Akatsuki Babies REVAMPED
by Question Point
Summary: Hinata has a mission to take care of eight odd children. She's in a bit over her head. Then, there's children's tendency to turn into the most feared ninja of the century. Now, she's a missing nin taking few of a few criminally insane children with what seems like everyone at her neck. It's been a really crazy month... AkaHina SEE PROFILE FOR INFO.
1. Chapter 1

**EDIT: Went back and took out all of Hinata's s-s-stuttering because that's just silly -_- *slaps younger self***

**…**

**..**

**.**

Hinata rushed across the rooftops of Konoha and toward the hokage's office. She had been called in by ANBU not a moment ago to a meeting in Tsunade's office for a mission. The Hyuuga thought it was a little odd considering she had never gone on a solo mission before and she thought only jounin and special cases could. But, if the hokage wanted her to be a special case, she wouldn't object.

By the time she got to the big, red tower, she was _seriously_ rethinking wearing a jacket in the hot, Konoha summer. Thankfully, she was hit by a blast of cold air from the air-conditioned tower that blew her midnight locks back when she opened the door to enter. After getting past the doors and into the coolness, she walked up the—seemingly never-ending—stairs, and down the curved hallway before stopping before the wooden door that lead into the hokage's office. She lifted her hand and made a few raps with her knuckles.

"Enter," the hokage's strong voice came through the door, and Hinata turned the knob.

"You called for m—W-What is this?" Hinata all but gaped at the scene of children scattered all about the hokage's office. Some were asleep, others were staring at nothing, and a silver-haired baby was chewing on a table leg.

Tsunade stared at Hinata as she looked around in shock (how she maintained that serious look with babies surrounding her was a mystery) before she let out a sigh, "Hinata… sit down."

Hinata walked over to the chairs that were pressed against the wall and pulled one of the chairs in front of Tsunade's desk before sitting in it.

The Gondime sighed as she rubbed her temples, "This is so hard to explain…" she began to chew on the pad of her thumb as she thought about how to tell Hinata exactly what was going on.

The dark-haired kunoichi furrowed her eyebrows at the hokage's effort to try and tell her something, "Please just tell me, Tsunade-sama. I can take it," she said sternly, despite the panic bubbling up inside of her; had something happened? Had someone died?

"Hinata, these children are going to be in your care. You are not to show them to anyone, for they are the children of some of the highest people in the world. I am assigning you to protect them, and I expect you to do so to the best of your abilities." Tsunade said, and Hinata noticed how Shizune, who was standing quietly beside the hokage, gasped quietly and looked at the pigtailed woman in surprise.

Hinata nodded hesitantly as she bit her lip to hold in her thoughts, causing Tsunade to give her a stern look.

"Speak up if you want to say something," she commanded.

The white-eyes kunoichi winced at being caught, "W-Well," she looked away from the hokage's steel gaze, "I'm not accusing you of favoritism or anything, but if you wanted s-someone about my age, why wouldn't you choose Sakura-san? She's… Sakura-san is much stronger than me."

Tsunade's eyes softened, "Well… You were just perfect for the job, Hinata. It's almost as if it was made for you. You'll be the perfect mother, and I believe that you can protect them."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama… But, I'll need to notify my father; he wouldn't like me coming home with ten children without his knowing…" she trailed off at the look that Tsunade was giving her.

"You won't be staying in the Hyuuga Compound. We've made other arrangements. You will be staring in the Kira Apartment Complex, and you are not to let the children out of the house."

Hinata's eyes widened, "I-I'm sorry, but…" she bit her lip, the shy part of her beginning to take effect because she had interrupted the hokage; she pushed the shy Hinata away. "I don't understand… if I am to do this to the best of my ability, shouldn't I be able to take them with me?"

Tsunade sighed, "I was thinking about that matter. Originally, we thought that you could just leave a clone there; however, if that clone gets destroyed, they will be helpless," she rubbed her temples. "I suppose I could get you some help. Just try to manage until I can find someone. That means _no_ leaving the house, okay?"

Hinata nodded, "Right!"

"Hyuuga Hinata, do you accept the mission of protecting these children?"

"I do, Hokage-sama."

"Good! Now then, go to this address," Tsunade threw a key with a piece of paper wrapped around it to the dark-haired teen. "The room number is on that paper and that is your key."

The Hyuuga nodded in reply.

"Dismissed. I shall have the children delivered to that room soon."

Hinata bowed before rushing out of the room. Shizune turned to the woman with a stern expression.

"Tsunade-sama! I thought we agreed to tell her the truth!" She said in a scolding tone, and Tsunade sighed.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama, I thought that was what we agreed upon," a third person entered the room—an ANBU. Her mask was that with all the likeness a porcelain mask could hold of a dog and from the back, long brown hair spilled out around her back.

"Inu, Shizune, there has been a change of plans. We are not going to tell anyone about this. It shall stay between the few of us that knew about it." Inu and Shizune looked at each other with—what could be assumed, on Inu's part—concerned looks.

"Why, Tsunade-sama? Doesn't the poor child deserve to know what she's protecting?" Inu asked.

Tsunade sighed as she looked at the door where the Hyuuga-hime had disappeared, "She does, but… I don't think she could handle it. It's better this way…

"It's better that she doesn't know that she's is caring for the organization that almost took us out—Akatsuki."

* * *

When Hinata arrived at her new home, she was met by two ANBU within her room; they seemed to be waiting for her.

"Hyuuga-sama, we have put _them_ to bed. They are sleeping soundly, and we shall take our leave," they both bowed sharply before disappearing. She vaguely wondered why the ANBU had said _they_ with such venom. Perhaps one of the children's parents had offended him? Maybe…

She sighed as she tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear.

This was going to be a _long_ mission.

* * *

**I do not own the anime/manga _Naruto_; all rights go to their original owners ^_^**


	2. Chapter 2

**m sure you've all heard of the earthquake, so I won't elaborate.**

**Bottom line:**

_**Please**_**pray for Japan and all other areas that were hit by the quake and/or tsunami.**

**ON A LIGHTER NOTE~**

**THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING!**

**I love seeing your reviews, and it makes me update faster—though it didn't seem that way this time. It's been hectic, and I've not found the time to update anything.**

**Sorry!**

**I'll try to be better this time!**

**Hehe. I have to admit, though, it is kind of funny how forceful some reviews can be. I haven't received a death threat yet, but I wait with anticipation for the day :D**

**And to answer a question—which I can't remember if I PMed back to and am too lazy to check—I am using Nagato's real body.**

**Finally, to sum up this author's note, I know this chapter is long, but please don't let that raise your expectations of chapter length. I still**_**plan**_**to make them reasonably short and update often; I just couldn't stop until I got to the point where this chapter ended.**

**I still don't own **_**Naruto**_**. Kishimoto-sama does… did you know he got punched by an old lady in front of the**_**Mona Lisa**_**? I can't help but find that epically funny!**

* * *

_Beep_

As another package of diapers went across the scanner, Hinata received yet another odd look from the woman checking her out. She blushed yet again and looked away in embarrassment. Of course, if she were the woman, she would look at the person who was buying _twenty_ packages of diapers, sixteen baby bottles, and four large containers of formula.

"Will that be all?" the woman asked, her dark eyes boring into Hinata's, daring her to ask for anything else.

"N-no, this is all thank you." She pushed the money into the woman's hand, grabbed her bags, and rushed for the door.

Once outside, she let out a sigh of relief. She hoped she wouldn't have to go back to that store for a long time. That woman, whom she had never met before, _hated_ her.

_Maybe something bad happened to her earlier today, and she was just grumpy to everyone._Hinata took a shy glance back only to see the woman laughing with one of the other customers. _Or… maybe she just hates me._

"Hinata-san!" she heard her name called and turned to see Sakura waving while walking toward her. "What's up?" The pinkette looked down at the bags in the heiress's hands. "Oh? You went in there?" Sakura looked distastefully at the woman at the counter. "That woman _hates_ me!"

Hinata felt a little bad that she was relieved by that.

"You know, I haven't seen you out lately," Sakura cocked an eyebrow. "Where ya been?"

"U-um…" She couldn't very well tell Sakura that she had been taking care of some very mysterious children and had just been cleared to go and buy supplies.

"Whatever, it doesn't really matter. I don't want to pry," the pinkette rubbed her forehead. "But, I'm telling you, Hinata! It's been so hard to go on missions where we had to seal and stuff—missions with chakra control—with _Neji!_ He makes me want to strangle him every time we work together!"

Hinata giggled. "Neji-nii-san can be a little nerve-wracking at times," she admitted.

"A _little?_He—ugh!" Sakura shook her head. "There aren't even _words_ to describe him. He's worse than _me_ when we were genin!"

The Hyuuga smiled. "Y-you weren't that bad, Sakura-san!"

"Oh, but I was. Geez…" Sakura crossed her arms. "Let's not dive into _that_ shark tank, though."

Hinata laughed again. "Sakura-san—"

"Oh! Please don't call me that!" Sakura interrupted.

The heiress pressed her fingers together. "O-only if you won't call me Hinata-san."

The emerald-eyed kunoichi smirked. "Deal, Hinata-_chan_. Now we're officially friends."

"Nice to know." She glanced at the bags in her hand and remembered the children and ANBU in her temporary home. "Sorry, Sakura-s—chan, but I need to get back home."

The pinkette nodded. "I should be getting back to the hospital. See ya, Hinata-chan!"

"Bye!" Hinata waved as she walked away. She turned around and looked down the street.

This had been a very odd day. The children weren't like average children. They were very abnormal. Almost freakishly so. The one with the silver hair kept biting people. The one with the green and pink eyes kept scratching people's chests—over their hearts. One had blue skin. Enough said.

With a sigh, she pushed open the door, and froze at what she saw.

These ANBU had obviously gotten sick of the children.

However, that was no excuse for what had happened here.

The blue-skinned child named Kisame had been tied to a kitchen chair, and was chewing on his ropes. The blue-haired girl, Konan, and the purple/red-haired boy, Nagato, had crawled away and were both taking cover under the couch; Hinata could only see their heads poking out and watching the scene unfold. One of the ANBU was braking up a fight between Sasori and Deidara with unnecessary force while the other only watched as Kakuzu and Hidan were biting each other and drawing blood. Itachi only sat beside Kisame and watched with what seemed to be amusement as he struggled against his bindings.

Hinata cleared her throat forcefully. The ANBU both turned to look at her.

"Hinata-san—" the first started, releasing his grip on Deidara and Sasori.

"What is going on here?" she demanded, tossing her shyness aside and unleashing Kunoichi Hinata, who was usually reserved for enemies to whom she could show no fear.

"They were…acting up," the second ANBU stated as he cautiously pulled Hidan and Kakuzu apart. They both suddenly acted like a deer caught in headlights.

"Acting up?" Hinata asked. "So you decide to tie them up?" She thrust her finger to where Kisame was violently struggling. "They're just children! They're going to act up!"

The first ANBU scoffed. "Our mission with these _children_ is done. We need to report back to Tsunade-sama."

And they poofed away.

"WAAAAHHHHH!" Kisame had finally had enough, and decided to just cry until someone let him go.

"Hush! It's okay!" Hinata assured him as she rushed over. She pulled out a kunai and swiftly cut his ropes away.

He fell onto his face when he tried to stumble toward her, and this unleashed a whole new wave of sobs.

In her panic to rescue Kisame from the floor, where he had just decided to stay, face-down, and sob, Hinata dropped her kunai. She picked the shark-like boy up, not noticing the little dark-haired child crawling behind her and toward the weapon.

"Shh. It's okay, Kisame-chan!" she soothed, patting his blue spikes.

Meanwhile, Itachi picked up the kunai and crawled with it in his hand toward the group of children.

Deidara hurriedly crawled forward and grabbed the hilt, trying to pull it away from the raven-haired child. Itachi let out a grunt of protest, pulling back. The noise drew the attention of Hidan, who quickly bounded over on all fours. He, also, grabbed the kunai, but he grabbed it by the blade, causing blood to drip from his palms and onto the carpets.

Kakuzu laughed and pointed so hard as Hidan jumped back from the sudden pain that he fell over. The baby's laughter caused Hinata to turn and see what all the fuss was about. What she saw was Itachi and Deidara fighting over a blood-covered kunai while Hidan licked his bleeding palms, glaring at the laughing Kakuzu.

"Ah!" Hinata gently sat the now-calm Kisame down to rush over to take the weapon from the children.

"'Et go! Un!" Deidara protested, jerking against Itachi's pulls at the kunai.

"No!" Itachi let out a low snarl, glaring at Deidara as well as a child of only ten months could.

"Itachi-chan! Deidara-chan! Stop!" Hinata yelped as the children struggled with each other.

"Hmm!" Deidara yelled with one final tug. The kunai slipped from Itachi's fingers, but Deidara's body wasn't prepared for the laws of motion. His arm flew backwards, and so did his entire body. In his struggle to keep from falling back, he released the kunai. The knife went flying toward the window, and it shattered when it hit.

All over Hidan.

"ITAIIIIIII!" the violet-eyed boy screamed as glass pierced his body.

"Oh no!" Hinata gasped, rushing over to where Hidan sat and screamed ineligible things. She fell to her knees, ignoring the few shards that stabbed her. "Hidan-chan!" she breathed as she gently took hold of the nearest piece stabbing the baby. Carefully, she pulled it out, drawing a scream from Hidan.

Kakuzu, though he had been stabbed by a few shards, was rolling on the floor laughing. This, of course, wasn't good for the shards that were embedded in his skin. They dug deeper, and his laughs soon turned to screaming laughter as his blood stained the carpet.

"Kakuzu-chan!" Hinata yelped as the baby screamed, cried, and laughed all at the same time. "My medic kit!" she reminded herself, jumping up as Hidan picked the glass out of himself. Oddly enough, he had stopped crying and was now smiling.

Deidara, meanwhile, sat staring at where the window had exploded in a trance, his mouth wide open. Sasori stared distastefully at the, somewhat blood-stained, shards of glass. The red-head quickly went back to playing with his third-kazekage action figure.

Konan and Nagato, who had abandoned their under-couch hideout, helped pick the glass out of Hidan and Kakuzu. Hidan screamed while Kakuzu just tried to hit them. For some reason, though, they continued picking the glass of their fellow children.

Hinata came rushing in, her medic kit in hand. She sat down next to Hidan, and pulled out a roll of bandages. She unrolled them and went to wrap his wounds.

But they were gone.

Her lavender eyes widened as she picked the silver-haired child up and turned him in every angle. He giggled hysterically, clapping his hands.

"Again! Again!" he screeched when she put him down.

Hinata, still in a state of shock, just stared at him and muttered, "His wounds… they've healed."

She turned to where Konan and Nagato were on either side of Kakuzu, picking shards from his skin.

He certainly wasn't healed.

She shook her head, drawing in a deep breath. She remembered that these children were special for some reason, and she was their guard. Maybe Hidan simply had a kekkai genkai.

"Yes… that's it," she assured herself as she tended to Kakuzu. She had to gently push the concerned Nagato and Konan away from their picking so that she could do it again.

"'Kuzu," Konan stated, looking up at Hinata with a pout on her face.

"Kakuzu will be just fine," Hinata smiled at the blue-haired baby. Recently, Konan had wadded up a piece of paper and knotted it in her hair, refusing to take it out. Hinata didn't have a problem with it, but she couldn't help but notice how odd the child looked with paper knotted in her blue locks.

Konan simply wobbled away with shaky steps to where Nagato sat playing with some plastic animals and plopped down next to him.

"There you go," Hinata chirped as she finished wrapping the bandages.

Kakuzu lifted his arm and stared at it blankly.

Hinata giggled at him. "Nap time!" she sang.

Hinata laid the children down in their beds, but as she counted them, she noticed one was missing.

"Itachi-chan?" she called, walking out of the bedroom to look for the raven-haired baby. She searched the entire house, but she couldn't find him.

Just as she began to go into a panic, there was a knock on her door.

"C-coming!" she stuttered out through her frustration. She ran to the door and pulled it open.

In her doorway stood a girl that looked to be a little older than Hinata. In her arms was Itachi.

"Itachi-chan!" Hinata gasped out.

"I found him wandering the hallways," the girl explained. "And I heard crying coming from this room earlier so I figured…" she trialed off, holding out Itachi. "You should really be more careful."

"I-I know, I'm sorry," Hinata squeaked.

"No, no. I mean, of course, you should be careful with babies all the time, but there are actually some criminals in Konoha that they can't find," the auburn-haired girl pulled on her sleeve nervously. "And I would hate to see the little guy get hurt…"

"Oh dear. I didn't know. Thank you for telling me!" Hinata said with a smile.

She returned smile. "Of course. If you ever need anything, I just live across the hall"—she turned to point to a door labeled 136—"I'd be glad to help."

"Thanks… what's your name, again?" Hinata asked, tilting her head.

"Oh! My name is Zeshi," she bowed.

"Hinata," the heiress returned the bow.

Zeshi smiled, "See you later, Hinata-san." She turned wand walked back to her apartment.

Hinata closed the door and held Itachi at arm's length. "Itachi-chan, please don't ever run off again. You scared me half to death!"

Itachi simply stared at her.

With a sigh, Hinata placed the child on her hip and walked to the bedroom. "I think I'm going to need a nap, too," she muttered as she laid him down in his bed.

* * *

Hinata awoke to the sounds of rustling. She cautiously opened her eyes and stiffened when she saw two dark-haired men standing inside her home. She went to reach for her weapons, but one of the men grabbed her.

"Easy, there!" he growled in her ear as he pinned her arms behind her back.

"I was wondering when she would wake up," the second admitted, walking over to stroke the Hyuuga's cheek. "I like her. We could have some fun with her,"

"Get away from me!" Hinata commanded, kicking the man in front of her in his _family jewels._

He winced, jumping back. "You little _bitch_!"

She bit back a pained groan as the man holding her tightened his grip painfully.

"You really shouldn't have done that, _little girl,_" the man holding her—Criminal1—growled at her.

"You shouldn't agitate people who have the advantage," Criminal2 hissed, pulling out a kunai. He walked over and pressed it to Hinata's throat, allowing a small trail of blood to trickle down her neck.

"Who said you had the ADVANTAGE?" her last word was yelled as she used all her strength to flip Criminal1 into Criminal2. Much to her disappointment, however, Criminal1 held on to her arms, and Criminal2 jumped away.

"I did! This is a battle that you can't win, little girl," Criminal2 spat, pulling out a kunai.

"_Byakugan_!" Hinata yelled, pushing chakra into her hands. Her chakra formed a blade, cutting Criminal1, who still had a hold on her.

"Ah!" he yelled, jumping back and grabbing his now-bleeding arm.

Hinata jumped back, avoiding the kunai that Criminal2 threw, and putting her back to the wall.

"Byakugan, huh?" Criminal2 asked, a smirk forming on his face. "This might be a little more fun that I first anticipated."

Her lavender orbs widened when she saw the Kumo headband on his forehead glinting in the moonlight that shone through the broken window with a slash through the cloud. Hinata ground her teeth together, sliding into her stance. She had never really liked Kumo ninja…

Both men pulled their kunai out, sliding into their own stances.

Criminal1 lunged at Hinata, but she easily dodged. She deduced that he was the less smart one, and he was simply following Criminal2. She struck at him with chakra-coated hands, pressing a chakra point in his arm. He screamed, stumbling back.

"Che!" Criminal2 looked angrily to where Criminal1 had fallen. _"Useless!"_ he snarled. "If I want anything done, I have to do it myself!"

With a growl, he lunged at the kunoichi. She dodged quickly. _He's faster than the other one,_she thought as she dodged more of his attacks.

"Hah!" Criminal2 smashed his fist into Hinata's stomach.

"Ack!" She went flying into the wall. As she lifted herself back to her feet, panting, she noticed something in the corner. Itachi. His head was peeping around the corner of the children's bedroom. She stared at his terrified expression for a second before turning back to Criminal2 with a fierce expression.

"Hmm?" he asked, smirking.

Hinata stood, her eyes full of guarded fire.

"Ready for another go?" Criminal2 asked.

"It won't take long," Hinata assured him, her eyes narrowing as she slipped into a juuken stance, the veins around her eyes bulged as she forced more chakra into them.

"No. It won't," he agreed, pulling out two kunai.

Hinata dodged both of them when they were thrown. _Why isn't he doing anything other than throwing kunai?_ She stiffened as he made a hand-sign.

"Twin twisting kunai no jutsu!" he shouted.

Hinata's eyes widened as she saw the two kunai that she has just dodged suddenly disappear. She heard an odd sound, and looked up to see what looked to be miniature of Kiba's 'fang over fang' headed straight toward her from above. She tried to dodge, but the thing was too fast.

It nailed her right in the stomach.

"STOP!" a voice yelled, and Hinata looked over to see Itachi stumbling over to her.

"No! Go back!" she managed through the pain and shortness of breath. She lay on the floor, her hand outstretched, and blood running from her mouth and stomach, unable to stop Itachi as he ran toward her.

"What's this?" Criminal2 asked before turning to look down at Hinata with a sinister smirk on her face. "You should just go to sleep…" he pressed a pressure point on the side of her neck "…while I have a little fun with your little friend here."

Itachi looked fearfully between her and Criminal2 as the walked toward him.

There was a bright light and a puff of smoke and everything went black.

* * *

When the silence of unconsciousness was lifted, Hinata heard something very odd. It sounded like muffled screams.

_I was sure I would be dead by now… Did they take me somewhere to get information from me?_

"You can get up now. I know you're awake," an unfamiliar voice told her.

_Who is that? It wasn't either of the men that were here…_

She opened her eyes.

And her heart stopped.

There.

Before her.

Sat Uchiha Itachi.

With only a blanket wrapped around his waist.


	3. Chapter 3

**I still don't own _Naruto!_**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"W-what? Uchiha Itachi? What are you doing here?" Hinata asked, sitting up and crawling backwards, pressing herself against the couch cushions in an attempt to get as far away from the dangerous man as possible.

"Calm down," Itachi commanded. He looked oddly threatening with nothing but a blanked tied around his waist.

Hinata's eyebrows furrowed. "What are you doing here?" she demanded in a slightly more authoritive tone.

Itachi simple stared evenly back at her. "Saving you, it seems," he answered, his onyx orbs sliding over to the corner. Hinata followed his gaze.

"W-wha—?" she gasped when she saw Criminal1 and Criminal2 bound and gagged in the corner. Their eyes were closed, and they were in obvious discomfort—Criminal1 even seemed to be about to cry. "W-what's wrong with them?"

"They are trapped in my Tsukiyomi," he explained. His tone told her that he didn't care that she didn't know what that was, and he didn't want to explain.

"Why are you here?"

He sighed. "You ask a lot of questions," he told her, sliding his eyes closed and leaning his head back on the chair.

"You raise a lot of questions," she replied evenly.

One of his orbs slid open. "Hmm…" he hummed in agreement, eyeing her, measuring her, sizing her up. His one eye seemed to be peering into her very being.

"Why are you here?" she repeated herself, her eyes narrowing.

"It isn't by choice if that's what you think," he assured. "It was not by my choice that I be here."

"Then why—!" she cut herself off with a choked gasp. "Itachi!"

The raven-haired man's eyebrow rose at her sudden call of his name.

"N-not you! The little Itachi!" she explained.

He suddenly smirked at her, his eyes showing just the slightest flicker of amusement before they became guarded once again.

"What are you smiling at?" she asked cautiously. She felt as though she were walking on a tightrope around him. Like he was a bomb waiting to explode and she was a detonator. One wrong move…

"You mean to tell me you are so naïve that you haven't figured it out yet?" he leaned forward, propping his elbows on his legs.

"Figured it out…? What are you talking about?" she asked with a gulp. Her eyes scanned the room for any possible escape routes. They landed on the shattered window. Well, that explained how the criminals got in without her knowing…

"I _am_ that Itachi," he said and allowed himself a small smirk at her baffled expression.

"W-what? No! That's impossible. My—that Itachi can't be more than ten months old. You must be—be—thirty!" she shook her head.

"Actually, I'm twenty," he corrected. "You should study your bingo book more."

Her eyebrows furrowed and she opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted when Itachi suddenly began coughing.

He held the coughs off just long enough to ask. "How long… have I been here?"

"A-a month," she answered him truthfully, and then mentally beat herself. Was she _seriously_ about to believe a criminal?

She noticed the way his jaw clenched and his eyes widened just a fraction. "A month…" he muttered, turning his head to look out the window.

Her tongue snaked out and licked her suddenly dry lips as she asked, "H-how did you get here? Why—Are you really…?"

"Yes. I am really that Itachi," he turned his blank orbs back to her. "As for how I got here, I can't remember much. All I know is that Kisame and I were on a mission. Two Konoha ninja jumped out before us and a third came from behind. The one behind us threw a bomb with some sort of odd gas. And then I was here. I can vaguely remember being a child. The bomb must have done that. The others are here, too, I assume?" he looked at her questioningly.

"Y-yes,"

"Where are they?"

"They are beck in the bedroom. They're still children…" She shook her head. "I-I can't believe this…"

Itachi stood, being sure to keep a tight grip on the blanket, and walked down the hallway.

"W-where are you going?" Hinata asked, blushing a bit at the nearly-naked man walking around in her house.

Instead of answering, he simply pushed open the doorway of the bedroom and disappeared inside.

Hinata rushed in after him. He was staring down into one of the cribs. There, Sasori and Deidara had their tiny arms wrapper around each other; Deidara's face was buried into the red-head's chest while the hazel-eyed baby had his chin resting on the blonde's head.

"Akasuna no Sasori and Deidara. Two of the most infamous criminals to date. And look at them," Itachi stared down at the boys, closing his eyes.

"They are quite adorable…" Hinata smiled tenderly at the two. _Wait… _She shook her head. "What are you doing? Sidetracking me? And do you really mean to tell me that all of these children are the Akatsuki? How did you get grown up, anyhow?"

"I suppose…" he started, unfazed by her questionary assault, "that it would be like the awakening of a kekkai genkai. If too much stress is put on the child, they will 'awaken' so to speak." Itachi shrugged. "I don't know the specifics, as I took no part in the making of the bomb."

"How long will you stay grown up?" she asked, looking at him.

"I suppose I could change back any time," he answered, peering out the window.

_This doesn't make any sense. Why would Tsunade-sama turn them into children? Why not just…eliminate them? And why give them to me? Why not tell me? What's going on here? _Hinata was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded at all the thoughts buzzing in her head like bees, stinging her and leaving whelps of uncertainty. She whirled on the man beside her. "What do—ah?" she started, but cut herself off when she noticed the lack of someone there.

A rustling sound on the floor caused her to look down and see Itachi. He was back in child form.

"Oh… Itachi-chan," she sighed as she bent down. Carefully, she wrapped him in the blanket that was pooled around him in cloth puddles and picked him up. "Thank you for saving me."

His simply stared at her with his large, black orbs in complete confusion.

She couldn't help but giggle. "Well, it's certainly been eventful, and I'm sure you're tired." She smiled as she laid him down in his crib. He had to share on with Hidan. Originally, the silver-haired child had been in with Kakuzu, but they abused each other during the night, so he had to be moved.

The moment Itachi was put in the crib, Hidan latched on to him, snoring and muttering things in his sleep. Itachi, suddenly looking very worn, simply slapped a palm to Hidan's face and pushed him away before falling asleep himself.

Hinata smiled at the adorable scene.

Oddly enough, she didn't care who they were or what they had done.

They were _hers_.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for any typos!**

**HAPPY EASTER, PEOPLES! **

**Enjoy~!**

* * *

Hyuuga Hinata had a huge dilemma.

It, like everything in her life seemed to be nowadays, was related to the children in her care. So many questions churned in her head. So many things she didn't understand. Why had Tsunade-sama lied to her? Did Tsunade-sama know? How had this happened? Why her? Why had Itachi grown up?

And, most of all…

Why, oh _why,_ did she not feel the least bit threatened?

It just didn't add up. She had a room full of the most dangerous people in the world, and if some of them grew up, they would kill her without hesitation. She would be unable to stop them, but… she didn't care.

With a groan, she dropped her head onto the table. "What do I do?" she moaned into the wood. "Nothing makes sense anymore."

_Should I tell Tsunade-sama? I mean, what are the odds that she just rounded up the Akatsuki at random? I'm sure she knows, but… Why are they _kids_? I'm sure glad they aren't able to kill anyone—or me—but _why_?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a long, drawn-out wail from the back of the apartment.

She rushed back to the nursery, only to find that it was Sasori who was crying. Oddly enough, Deidara, who had his arms wrapped around Sasori, was still asleep.

"What's wrong?" she asked, gently removing Sasori from Deidara's grip.

Sasori wailed in response, his hands grabbing the backs of his arms.

Hinata gently removed his hands, and gasped at what she saw. "Oh, no! Sasori-chan," she gently rubbed one of the bite-marks on his arm. "Deidara-chan's hands must've bitten you! Poor thing."

Chibi-Sasori wailed again, flailing his arms.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," she assured him as she placed him on her hip and walked out of the nursery.

Once Hinata returned to the kitchen, she placed the now-sniffling Sasori on the table and ran to the kitchen to get some ointment. Only to find out that she was completely out.

"Aww, man," she whispered to herself, her eyebrows furrowing. "I must've run out last month when Hidan-chan and Kakuzu-chan…" She shivered at the memory. When she thought back to moments like that, it wasn't hard to believe _those_ two were S-class criminals.

"Mah! Mah!" Sasori grunted, rolling on the table and sniffling.

"It's okay, Sasori-chan," she assured, walking over and patting him on the head.

"Owie," he stated, staring up at her with large, watery eyes.

Hinata frowned to herself as an idea popped into her head. "Desperate times…" she muttered to herself as she scooped the chibified criminal into her arms.

* * *

Her footsteps echoed in the darkness of the hallway as she walked. The flickering lights cast shadows across her face and illuminated the faces of the people in the cages next to her.

She ignored their angry growls at her as she walked by, ignored their pleas to release them from this hell. She was the guard of this hell.

Her fist clenched as the pieces clicked together in her mind once again. She had had her suspicions for a while now, but…

She was certain now. There was no doubt about it. That large chakra spike the other day, so large that she had felt it even from this place. And since then, there had been no reports of the Akatsuki.

She had been keeping tabs on them ever since _he_ came. She had heard stories of his looks, but when he had walked through that door, she had fallen. She searched around after he left, looking for anything and everything about him. It was well known who he was and what he was looking for. So, in order to impress him, she had been keeping tabs on that something that he was looking for. That something was in the Akatsuki. She knew that one day he would come back, and she would be able to blow him away with her extensive knowledge of their movements.

And, so, when the reports of them stopped coming, she grew suspicious. The Akatsuki were always there. There were always sightings.

But they just stopped.

The day she felt it.

That spike so large. She didn't even know how to describe it. It was like thousands of ninja coming together and joining their chakra into one. It was near the extent of a bijuu, and if she hadn't been an above-average sensor, she would've thought it inhuman.

She let out a sigh.

"It's the only way… but it makes no sense," she muttered quietly to herself, biting on the nail of her thumb as she thought.

Someone had gotten rid of the Akatsuki.

And she was going to find out who.

* * *

Tsunade ground her teeth together as she read the words on the paper before her. Her fists clenched, crumpling the report.

"Shizune," she growled.

"H-Hai?" the dark-haired girl squeaked, turning to the blonde nervously.

"Hyuuga… Hyuuga Hinata… What do you think she would do…? If she found out?" Tsunade asked as she scanned the crumpled paper again.

Shizune's eyes widened. "You… You don't think that she…!"

"I don't know," Tsunade answered truthfully, biting down on the pad of her thumb. "Her reports… they've become less and less detailed. I feel that there's something going on. That's the only thing I can think of. This started a few months ago when those criminals broke into the apartment."

Shizune winced, remembering how Tsunade had screamed so loud, _"OF ALL THE PLACES IN KONOHA, THEY PICK _THAT_ONE APARTMENT?-!"_

"It was shown that there were traces of a powerful genjutsu on them. And Hinata, if I recall correctly, wasn't the top of the class in that subject. Either she's improved greatly, or someone else put that genjutsu on them. Who do you know who is an expert in illusions?"

Ton-ton oinked as Shizune's grip on her increased. A bead of sweat rolled down the dark-haired woman's face before she answered, "Uchiha… Itachi."

Tsunade intertwined her fingers, her eyes darkening.

Somewhere in the skies above Konoha, lightning flashed.

* * *

Hinata knocked three times on the door before her. After a moment, the door opened to reveal a rather flustered-looking girl. Her eyes brightened when she saw Hinata.

"Hinata-san! What brings you here?" the auburn-haired girl asked, trying to smooth some of the ruffled hairs on her head down.

"Z-Zeshi-san, I-I hate to intrude, but I need to ask you something," Hinata admitted, blushing. She _hated_ talking to strangers.

Zeshi nodded. "Of course—oh! I'm being rude! Please, come in," she moved aside, motioning for Hinata to come inside.

Hinata walked inside, not noticing how the girl brushed a few scrolls under the couch as she walked by.

"So, what can I help you with?"

Hinata looked down at Sasori, who had stopped sniffling and was now staring blankly into space. "Sasori-chan… I-I ran out of healing ointment, and he gout h-hurt. I was wondering if you had a-anything… I-I'm sorry, this is so rude!"

"No, no, it's fine, really. I don't mind at all!" Zeshi assured, giggling at Hinata's shyness. "I'm glad that you came to me instead of going to the hospital or something…"

Hinata nodded, not having the heart to tell the girl that she only came to her because she was next door.

"Well, you're in luck! It just so happens that I have a little skill in the art of healing!" Zeshi crossed her arms with a smirk. "I'm no Tsunade or anything, but I'll get the job done."

Hinata smiled. "Really? T-Thank you so much!"

"No problem!" she waved it off. "Let's see here—who's this?" she asked, walking over and leaning over to Sasori's level.

"'Sori!" Sasori answered with a smile.

"Ah? Sori?" Zeshi threw Hinata a look, her bright blues clearly asking Hinata to enunciate.

"_Sas_ori," the Hyuuga giggled.

"Alright. Where is Mr. Sasori injured?"

"On the backs of his arms."

"Ah." A pause. "Who bit him?"

"Erm… D-Deidara."

"I see…" Zeshi lifted her hand to the back of Sasori's arms, her hands emitting a warm green energy. She pressed them to the child's skin, and healed them quickly.

Hinata saw a sudden cold, dark look in the girl's eyes. But when she blinked, it was gone.

"All done!" the brunette chirped with a smile.

Hinata nodded, and as she uttered a thank you, she convinced herself she must've imagined the look. _You're being paranoid, _she mentally scolded herself.

"Come back any time," Zeshi waved as Hinata walked out the door, shutting it behind them.

Once the door shut, she ran to the couch, pulled out the scroll and began to write.

_Tsunade-sama,_

_ANBU assigned to case Aka, Inu, reporting._

_Something is happening with Hyuuga Hinata._

* * *

**I'M USING AN OC! I know! I hate using OCs, and I feel so bad about it, but it's not going to become a regular thing (hopefully)! However, I can't very well use a regular character, can I? That wouldn't work out well for the whole _secrecy_ thing. I just need to throw her in there because they don't _ever_ show any of the ANBU. I've had to make one up. She won't be showing up much, hopefully.**

**Now, to finish: FIRST PERSON TO GUESS WHO 'She' IS GETS A FREE COOKIE :D**


	5. Chapter 5

** Props and cookies to Gladiis for guessing who she was first~! Almost all of you were right, though. Nice to know I'm not a total failure at cluing people in ^_^**

** I actually have a **_**really**_** good****excuse for the lateness of this! (*cough* N-Not that the others weren't good reasons!) For the last week, I've had to stay up all night because of storms. I've been in the storm shelter until at **_**least**_** 12AM every **_**single night. **_**Let's just say Mother Nature was POed. Anyway, I had school the days after that, and when I would get home (AKA, my writing time), I would crash. Only to be awoken at about 5-6PM to go get in the **_**stupid**_** shelter **_**again.**_

** The death toll in the deep south, as far as I know, is up to 200+ weather-related deaths, and we've had to have mandatory evacuations were I live because the Mississippi's about to flood everything.*sigh* Needless to say, it's been taking up a bit of my time. I may not be able to update as quickly—or slowly—as I usually can. Sorry! This is a totally horrible, sadistic, thing to say, as this chapter ends on a kinda-cliffie.**

** I don't own **_**Naruto.**_

** Enjoy!**

* * *

Tsunade growled to herself as she read the latest mission report from the genin team she had sent on a mission to the Rice Country.

"Last time I ever send genin on a B-ranked mission," she sighed out, reaching for her bottle of sake and tipping the bottle to her lips. Much to her dismay, she found that only a few drops flowed into her mouth. "Shizune! More sake!"

"B-but, Tsunade-sama, that's your third bottle," Shizune argued feebly, clutching the pig in her arms.

"Do I _look_ like I care how many bottles I've had? Just GO!"

"H-hai!" Shizune squeaked, rushing out of the room to the hokage's special store of alcohol.

Tsunade ran her hand through her blonde locks, leaning back in her chair. _Everything's become so much trouble. Even when the little brats are small, they're nearly as horrible as when they were grown. _She thought back to the destruction Akatsuki had caused. _Well… maybe not _that_ bad, but…_

She turned and looked out the window. _They've unleashed a whole new wave of enemies on us. Someday soon, someone is going to find out that Konoha was the one who got rid of the Akatsuki. The word will surely spread like wildfire, as no one can guard a secret that isn't theirs. Hell, some people can't even guard their own secrets. _

The hokage leaned back, closing her eyes. _Something bad is about to happen. I can feel it._

* * *

She gulped, wringing her hands together. Maybe she shouldn't have come… maybe she should've just shut her big mouth and dealt with it alone. No. She couldn't get all the information, much less the manpower, to find out where the Akatsuki had gone all on her own.

She needed…

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto spoke, emerging from the door she was standing before, "is ready to see you."

She bit her lip with a nod and followed him in.

"Karin," Orochimaru's snake-like voice rasped and echoed through the room.

"Orochimaru-sama," the red-head greeted with a bow. As she rose, her eye lingered for a moment where someone was standing in the shadows behind Orochimaru's chair. Their eyes were closed.

"You have something for me?" he asked, smiling with a predatory smile.

Karin took in a deep breath with a nod. "It's not much, but..." she let the breath out "I've been tracking the movements of the Akatsuki."

The eyes snapped open, such a bright red that they almost glowed.

"Oh?" Orochimaru didn't sound the least bit surprised, as always. But Karin knew he was interested from the way he leaned forward oh-so slightly and licked his lips.

"Hai," she answered, a small blush rising to her face as the red eyes stared so intently at her. "But…"

"But?" Orochimaru hissed, his eyes widening in anticipation.

"T-the reports," Karin stammered, breaking under the pressure, "they've stopped coming. It's as if the Akatsuki… t-they've simply _dropped off the face of the Earth_!"

The snake-like man's fists clenched as the red eyes narrowed at her.

"I-I believe…" she took in another deep breath before continuing. "I believe that—and I know it sounds crazy—but I believe that someone has done away with the Akatsuki!"

* * *

Every good villain has connections everywhere. _Everywhere. _Even in enemy territory. Orochimaru was no exception. He had spies in Suna, Konoha, Kumo, even in Taki. However, he had yet to get a spy into Ame, but that's beside the point. Unfortunately for him, most spies were found out and killed. After all, it was hard to find someone who wouldn't get a little nervous when Morino Ibiki and Mitarashi Anko walked into the room (Orochimaru felt a little proud at the latter's ruthlessness, but that's, _again_, beside the point).

This, however, didn't stop him from finding the rarities and getting them. He assigned them all to search down every single S-ranked and above secret in the last few months and get it to him. Soon, he had a room full of reports.

Apparently, even the_ good_ guys had dirty laundry. There was one that particularly interested him.

One in Konoha.

His spy couldn't get all the details—that in itself was suspicious, considering he had one of his best in Konoha. It seemed as though many ANBU had been sent out to an unspecified location, and come back with some unspecified objects. The unspecified objects were at an unspecified location, which was unspecified as to whether inside or out of the village.

"Konoha?" Sasuke asked incredulously when he read the report. "You think _Konoha_ somehow got rid of the entire Akatsuki… And in one night?"

Orochimaru sighed. He knew Sasuke wouldn't take this well. "Yes, I do."

"Ridiculous," Sasuke spat, tossing the report scroll aside.

"Oh?"

"Of course. We're talking about the—" he hesitated, "—the _strongest_"_—_he spat the word as if it pained him—"and most _vile_ people of our time. And you think that the weak fools in _Konoha_ took them down singlehandedly? No. Impossible."

"Nothing is impossible, Sasuke-kun. Only improbable," Orochimaru corrected.

"This is _highly_ improbable."

"Perhaps."

Sasuke turned his back to the Otokage. "Do not bother me again with these suspicions of yours. I have no intrest."

"You have no intrest as to where Itachi went?"

Sasuke stiffened. "_Do not_ speak of that _monster_."

"Have you no intrest? I thought your goal was to defeat him. To get revenge. How will you ever do that if you haven't a clue where he is?" Orochimaru asked thoughtfully.

With an angered growl, Sasuke pulled out a kunai and threw it fiercely at the long-haired man. He easily dodged.

"_Shut up,_" Sasuke commanded, grinding his teeth together.

"I was merely asking," Orochimaru said with a smile.

Instead of replying, Sasuke slammed the door and ran out.

* * *

Later that night, the youngest Uchiha sat in the darkness of his room, deep in thought. He leaned back from his perch on the edge of his bed and stared at the ceiling with blank eyes.

"Konoha…" he muttered, his eyes narrowing.

_Konoha…_

"Itachi…"

_I'm coming for you. Your days are numbered._

* * *

Hinata looked out the window of her apartment with a sigh. She saw lots of people in the streets helping set up for the annual festival before the chunin exams. There would be people from lots of places around the world taking place in the chunin exams, and the festival was mostly for welcoming them as well as anyone who wanted to take place.

She sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. _I hope I can go this year. The festival is always so fun._

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere in a laboratory under the hokage tower, a gasp echoed throughout the dark room. A paper crumpled under the force of the person holding it. Their breath quivered as a terrible possibility came to them.

"No… No! NO! TSUNADE-SAMA!"


	6. Chapter 6

** …**

** I… have another OC in this chapter. He doesn't appear long, but… I mean, really! They hardly show anyone but Naruto and Sasuke in the manga anymore! It's frustrating! *Sigh* Like last time, he won't be in there long, and he most **_**certainly**_** will **_**not**_** steal the show. And, as previously stated, I can't show Shikamaru-chan in here being a genius, because that wouldn't be good for the secrecy thing. Secrecy is TROUBLESOME! Neither will any OCs that will—hopefully not—appear in the story. Sorry~!**

** There's a **_**small**_** OC scene in here, but that's because—*laughs nervously*—my lovely minion **_**Kitsune-chan LOVES Gaa-chan**_** pointed out a plot-hole I made with Inu's appearance. In the first chapter I said she had black hair, but then I went and changed it, so I have to slap a patch on the plot-hole right fast, but this will be **_**the **_**most that the OCs will take over right here (and I made the chappy longer to make up for it). I just need to get everything in place for the plot I have planned, and they're necessary for the plot—mostly as ways to shove bits of information into it.**

** ^^; Forgive my idiocy for not being able to find another way?**

** I don't own **_**Naruto, **_**but my OCs are my bitches ;)**

** WARNING: LOTS OF ODDLY-LARGE PARAGRAPHS FOR MY STANDARDS AHEAD! STRETCH YOUR BRAIN BEFORE GOING BELOW, LEST YOU GET HEAD-CRAMPS!**

** Enjoy!**

* * *

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched as the man—no, boy—before her stood, blubbering and allowing incoherent things to tumble from his lips. She thought she may have heard the words "Akatsuki" and "chakra" coming from him, but she couldn't be sure. She had never like genius types. They were always so odd. Shikamaru was the only half-way sane one. But, then, she supposed that if she knew and understood as much as they did, she would be odd, as well.

"Hush!" she commanded at last.

"Uh?" the man whimpered, looking at her with those large, child-like eyes. Tears streaked his cheeks and brimmed below his chocolate irises. Tsunade-sama, I-I don't want the Akatsuki to come back," he sniffled, wiping away all the fluids that had leaked from his face with one overly-large, green sleeve that fell over his hand and gave him an ever more child-like look.

Tsunade clenched her hands together. "Why would you think the Akatsuki would come back, Senzu?"

Senzu looked up, tears still in his eyes. "Well, last night I was going over my notes again, and—well—" He bit his lip, eyeing anywhere in the room but the hokage.

"Senzu!" she barked, one blonde eyebrow twitching violently. This guy was about to receive a Tsunade-powered punch to the face if he didn't get to it.

"Well… if the babies are… exposed… enoughoutsidechatheym-migrowup!" he rushed the ending, hiding his face behind his hands.

The pig-tailed woman clenched her fists. _Must…resist…urge…to…strangle. _"Go…a bit slower… Senzu."

"If the Akatsuki are exposed to enough outside chakra, they might… grow up," he said quickly, evidently deciding do just get it done fast—like a Band-Aid. Suddenly, the dark-haired ninja found himself very interested with his shoes.

Tsunade stared at him with shock for a moment, her hazel eyes scanning him for any sign that he was joking, _praying_ that someone other than Naruto would be idiotic enough to play a prank on her.

He wasn't.

"F-find me Inu," she said weakly to no one in particular, calling on the ANBU that came to her mind. Someone was always listening.

Moments later, a dog-masked person with long, black hair appeared in the room.

"Tsunade-sama?" Inu asked upon seeing Tsunade's pale face.

"Senzu, explain," the hokage commanded, having no time to greet her loyal ninja.

Senzu turned to the ANBU with an odd expression. "Would the nice ANBU-lady mind taking her mask off? I don't like to not be able to see the face of one I am sharing valuable information with. And the mask is scary."

Inu turned to Tsunade, alarmed. ANBU were _never_ allowed to show their faces. Under any circumstances—well, _certain_ circumstances, after all, you can't go parading around in an ANBU mask in an undercover mission.

Tsunade let out an irritated sigh. "Yes, yes, Inu, you can take off your mask," Tsunade waved her hand, sending out a wave of chakra and making sure that no one that wasn't supposed to would be able to see.

The girl removed her mask, and with it came her hair. The raven locks were attached to the top of the mask, and below it lay short, auburn locks carefully twirled into a small up-do with two senbon. Her bright blue eyes scanned Senzu warily.

"Oh? The nice ANBU lady has a wig?" he asked, tilting his head slightly in confusion.

"Yes. Some ANBU like to wear them for extra precaution," Tsunade explained testily, annoyed with all the stalling. "Now please explain what you just told me. We haven't the time for dilly-dallying."

Senzu nodded, smiling with a sparkling innocence in his eyes. "Well," the sparkle faded and was replaced by a dull sadness, "I sat in my quarters last night, covering the information one last time before I reported to Tsunade-sama with a completed mission. And, then, a thought popped in my head. We had used the chakra of all the ninja in the village—taken it from them all at once with that jutsu. And anyone below civilian level wouldn't have any chakra to give. But, then, I thought this, 'What would happen if ninja that haven't had chakra taken from them came into contact with the Akatsuki?'" He stopped, lifting sleeve-covered hand up to wipe his eyes. "The answer is horrifying.

"You have to understand to understand the bomb to understand why it's so bad. The does what an ordinary ninja could never do, and if they tried, it would kill them. Tsunade-sama's reserve of chakra above her forehead provides her regeneration at a rapid speed, and this is the best example I can think to offer. Instead of rapidly making new cells to heal, the bomb takes all the chakra and seeps into every cell of the victim's body. It makes less and less cells and, eventually shrinks the body."

"Wait," Tsunade interrupted. "Wouldn't that just make the body turn into nothing?"

"Perhaps. But this bomb takes—let's just say—an extremely modified version of the henge in order to—instead of simply de-growing, so to say, the body—shrinking it. The device is primarily a medical bomb—the first of its kind." By now, Senzu was chewing on the end of his sleeve and staring off into space.

"And the reason that you believe the children could return to their original forms…?" Tsunade urged, trying to pull Senzu back from wherever he had drifted.

She didn't succeed in zoning him back in; however, he did begin to explain again, still chewing on the dark green fabric of his sleeve. "Well, you see, the chakra that was inside the bomb still dwells within the children, keeping them in their current forms. Eventually, of course, it will fade, but for now it still dwells within them. The modified form of the henge no jutsu that we used takes a while to fully set in, and if the chakra within them is disturbed, it could break. If it breaks, it could be dangerous. The time that it would stay broken varies."

"On what?" the Gondime asked, leaning in slightly, her eyes wide with excitement and her breath coming out in shaky gasps.

"Lots of things, but primarily the stage at which the modified henge has set in. Earlier on, if it had broken, they would likely change back rather quickly, as there was still much chakra keeping them restrained in the child form. Now, however, if it breaks they would be in their original form much longer, in the future especially."

"Why?" Tsunade shook her head lightly. "Wouldn't the henge have set in more by now?"

"Yes, however, this is a very fragile time. The chakra within them is slowly being used up as the henge sets in fully. The henge is still in a very fragile state as the chakra slowly drains. Once all of it is gone, it will be _impossible_ to change them back.

"But, now it is still very much possible to change them back—possibly for good. And that is where our problem is. There are many things that can trigger the transformation: stress, fear, pain, and, especially," Senzu paused, closing his eyes, "large amounts of unfamiliar chakra."

The words echoed in Tsunade's head like a scream in an empty cave.

_Large amounts of unfamiliar chakra_.

The festival.

The chuunin exams.

Ninja from all over the world would be coming.

They would surely be enough chakra to break any fragile jutsu.

Tsunade stood abruptly from her chair, chewing on the pad of her thumb and pacing the room.

"Tsunade-sama, what do we do?" Zeshi gasped.

Tsunade paused in her pacing, looking at the auburn-haired girl. She had almost forgotten that she had called her there. The Gondime really just wanted someone to have heard this with her so that she could have a second opinion.

"Should we cancel the chuunin exams?" the ANBU asked, worry seeping into her tone.

Tsunade paused at the window, peering at the main gate where a group of ninja strode through, smiling and laughing. Most likely talking about the festival and the chuunin exams.

"It's too late," she spoke through clenched teeth.

"No—I mean—we could make them go, and—"

"It's _too late._ Even if we did do that," the pig-tailed woman turned around to the two before her with a wild look, "what would people think? This is supposed to be promoting peace between all the nations. What would they do if we sent their ninja away? Konoha's ties with some are so thin that a move like that could break them. That could cause a war all its own. But, then, what will we do if the Akatsuki suddenly appear inside of our village during the exams?"

"We could imprison them—take them away from Hinata-san," Zeshi suggested, her eyebrows furrowing.

Tsunade's eyes brightened for a moment.

"That would be a mistake," Senzu spoke up. "The stress of being separated from their mommy would certainly make them transform. Her chakra was chosen of the thousands in the bomb as the purest. It calms them, and they see her as their mommy. Not to mention, I don't think our prison could hold them."

Tsunade turned angrily to the window again, glaring out at the distance. _Those damn brats… They had better grow up to be damn good _Konoha_ ninja for all the trouble they've caused._

* * *

The next day, Hinata awoke before the sun. It was unsurprising, as she had gone to sleep early the night before and ever since she learned the Akatsuki were in the room just across the hall from her, she hadn't been able to sleep well.

The kunoichi sighed, sitting up and allowing the blanket to fell from her body. She rubbed her temples, slowly getting out of bed and shivering when the cold air assaulted her bare skin. She pulled her falling lavander pajama pants up as she walked to the glass door to the balcony in her bedroom. Hinata had pleasantly surprised to find that there was a balcony to her apartment, but now that she knew the truth, she supposed that Tsunade would've wanted for her to be as comfortable and happy as possible to take care of the children.

She heaved a sigh, leaning on the concrete railing. One arm rose to finger the petals on one of the tiger-lilies that lived in a pot next to her. The red and orange streaked petal broke off in her hand, and she gasped, her eyebrows furrowing. She hadn't meant to break the poor thing.

With a sad smile, she opened her hand, allowing the fiery petal to be carried away in the wind. It drifted down the street with Hinata's trained eyes following it all the way. It floated past a hooded figure, who slowly lifted their hand to grab it. Hinata blinked at them as they slowly turned to look at her. A pair of eyes darker than the midnight sky framed by hair equally black, falling over snowy white skin observed her coolly. She stared back, confused.

Suddenly, a rather strong wind blew her hair toward the figure, whose hood flew off of their head. She saw their face for only a moment before they disappeared. That glaring face could only belong to one person.

Her identification of him sent her rushing into the house and locking the door behind her—not that it would stop him if he wanted to get it.

Uchiha Sasuke.


	7. Chapter 7

Konoha was bustling.

There were people everywhere. The night sky was lit up with the glow of lanterns from the village below—like a star on Earth. People laughed and enjoyed the festival games; a group ran away with bags full of treats stolen like only a ninja could as the gamekeeper screamed at them.

A lone figure sat on a bench in the park behind the rows of festival stands. His elbows propped on his knees, his folded hands supporting his hooded face.

"Report," he commanded seemingly no one.

A girl with bright red hair and eyes walked from the shadows. "He is there. I can sense him, but…"

"But?" he snarled harshly.

She flinched slightly. "It's so weak. It's as if he's… dying. But, then, it's not like that at all."

He stood abruptly, turning his back on her. "Right. Because that makes sense."

"You know, Sasuke-kun, you could be a little nicer. I've gotten you this far!" she defended herself, pushing her glasses up defiantly, huffing as her cheeks reddened.

"I know this, Karin, but you are of no use anymore. You can either leave quietly or I can make you disappear."

Karin blinked, her eyes widening. She looked at the ground. Right from the beginning she had known he was only using her. Yet, somehow, she hoped it was something more. _I'm a fool,_ the sensor scolded herself. "Right," she muttered, turning. "Will I see you with Orochimaru-sama again?"

"If tonight goes as planned, you will never see me again," with those final words, Sasuke disappeared, leaving Karin staring at the spot where he had been.

She bit her lip, turning to walk away. She had just enough time to gasp and spin around before someone grabbed her. She came face-to-mask with an ANBU.

"Hello there," a distinctly male voice cooed. "Perhaps you'd like to come with me. I've a few questions that I believe you can answer."

She opened her mouth to scream, but her world quickly went black.

* * *

_Cough cough_

Hinata winced as the raven before her panted after yet another coughing fit.

"Itachi-chan, what's wrong?" she wondered, stroking his black locks comfortingly.

He didn't answer, only fell into another fit of coughs. He covered his mouth with his hand, and when he removed them, his palms were dotted with red beads.

Hinata gasped, grabbing his arm and examining the liquid. "Itachi-chan! Oh, no!" She scooped him up started for the door. Suddenly, she paused and looked back at the other children strewn about the room. They were all staring at her curiously.

She felt something tug at her pant leg, and looked down to see Sasori staring up at her with confused hazel orbs. "What wrong?" he asked, blinking at her.

"Nothing," she assured with a smile.

He stared blankly at her for a moment before crawling back to where he sat playing with a Ken doll that he had horribly disfigured (it had six arms, four legs, three heads, and the tail from a dinosaur toy).

Hinata tightened her grip on Itachi as he started another round of coughs. She opened the door and bound across the hall, frantically knocking on the door.

Her auburn-haired neighbor opened the door, but she didn't even have time to say a word as Hinata spoke hurriedly.

"Please, please, please watch the kids; I have to take Itachi to the hospital. I p-promise I'll be back soon." And she ran down the hallway, leaving Zeshi in the dust.

"Er… okay?"

* * *

Once at the hospital, Hinata began speaking so quickly that the nurse at the front desk couldn't understand her.

The woman popped her gum irritably. "Ma'am, please calm down," she growled nasally. "I can't understand what you're sayin' to me."

"Hinata-chan!" a voice called from behind her, and Hinata whirled around.

"Sakura-chan!" Hinata gasped out, a smile gracing her features. Sakura was the best medic the Hyuuga knew.

"Is something wrong? Why are you at the ho—" Sakura was cut off as Hinata began explaining what she was doing at the hospital.

"Sakura-san, Itachi is coughing up blood! Please help! I don't know what to do!" Tears of panic building in her eyes.

The pinkette immedietly went into medic mode. "I see." Gently, she lifted the child from Hinata's arms. He protested weakly, but he was cut off by his own coughing. Sakura leaned her head over and pressed it to his chest. Her eyes closed for a moment, and Hinata felt like screaming. Emerald eyes snapped open, and Sakura rushed down the hallway.

Hinata blinked in shock for a moment before running after her. She followed Sakura into a room, and found the pinkette working tirelessly over little Itachi.

"What's wrong with him?-!" Hinata gasped, in near-hysterics.

"This doesn't make sense," Sakura growled as her glowing hands scanned over Itachi. "This disease is _extremely _rare. It takes _years_ to progress this much, and this boy is so young. How is this possible?" The chakra around her hands flared greatly.

_POOF_

"GAH!" both girls let out yelps of surprise, jumping away from the table. Smoke filled the room.

"What in the—" Sakura started.

"Oh, no!" Hinata yelped, realizing what had happened.

The smoke cleared.

On the table lay a naked, unconscious Uchiha Itachi.

"WHAT THE HELL?-!" Sakura screamed.

Hinata grabbed a towel from a nearby table and threw it over the man's body. She threw Sakura a panicked look, but the pinkette was still in a state of shock. She was spluttering and pointing to Itachi, her face drained of all color.

"That—wha?—that's—he's—wha?—NAKED!" Sakura gasped out, her emerald eyes widened to record-breaking proportions. She turned on Hinata, since the man was unable to speak. "EXPLAIN!"

Hinata sighed, hanging her head in her hands. "I-I wish I could."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't attack _you_ and him! Judging by your reaction, you already knew about this. Are you working with him?-!" Sakura growled, her fists clenching as she slid into a half-fighting position.

"That won't be necessary, Sakura," a stern voice commanded from the doorway.

"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura gasped, her eyes darting between Itachi, Hinata, and her master. "W-what's going on?" She suddenly looked very pale.

"She's under my orders. She's to protect him." Tsunade turned to Hinata. "My ANBU reported you running down the street with Itachi half-dead in your arms. Care to explain."

"Wait! Wait! Hinata is supposed to protect Itachi… but he was a baby. And I—I—" If you looked close enough, you could see the steam coming from Sakura's ears as her brain malfunctioned.

"Yes," Tsunade answered.

Sakura gripped the hospital bed, looking suddenly very worn. She looked with wide eyes to the elder Uchiha.

Just as his eyes opened.

They stared at each other in shock for a moment before Sakura did something very Hinata-like.

She fainted.

"Sakura-chan!" Hinata gasped, running over to catch the kunoichi. She hooked her arms under her friend's and dragged her over to the second bed in the room, where she lay her. "Sakura-chan! Wake up!"

"It was just too much for her to process, I suppose," Tsunade grumbled, rubbing her temples. "More importantly, why did you bring him here?" She pointed to Itachi, who was panting and staring at them with half-lidded eyes. "What's wrong with him."

"I-I don't know! He was coughing up blood!" Hinata shouted, grabbing her arms. She sank down into the chair beside her, feeling ready to follow Sakura's example.

Tsunade growled to herself as she stormed to Itachi's side. She placed her hands on his chest, her eyes closed, and her hands lit up like Sakura's had. Suddenly, her hazel orbs snapped open.

"Good—!" the hokage cut herself off from saying something probably very crude. She looked Itachi in the eye. "_How_ are you still breathing?"

He didn't answer, only shut his eyes.

Hinata rushed to the side of his bed opposite Tsunade. "What? What's wrong?-!"

"What's wrong?" Tsunade snorted. "What _isn't_ wrong would be easier to explain." She closed her eyes with a sigh. "Go home, Hinata."

"Nani?-! How can you expect me to go home when he's—!" she cut herself off upon seeing Tsunade's look.

"There is nothing you can do here. I will explain the situation to her, and Sakura and I will do all we can, but you should go home and take care of the others."

"But—"

"That's an order, Hyuuga!" Tsunade shouted, her eyes narrowing.

Hinata gasped before looking down at Itachi once more. He was staring up at her with half-lidded charcoal eyes. She gave him a sad look, and he closed his eyes.

"Odd…" he whispered.

"You!" the pig-tailed sanin hissed, "Do not talk!"

Hinata ducked her head and walked from the room with a heavy heart.

* * *

Upon arriving to her apartment, Hinata heard the sounds of people inside. She stopped and pressed her ear to the door, listening for more.

"—bitch!"

"—so reckless!"

"—agree—"

"SH—TH—UK UP!"

She slowly opened the door, only to find that there were several people standing in her living room, all wrapped in various cloths that could be found around the living room. Her eyes widened.

"Hey, hey, hey!" a voice called, and the door came flying open, revealing a very tall, very blue man with a towel tied around his waist smiling down at her. "Look who's home!"

"Kisame!" a navy-haired woman wrapped in a blanket like a dress barked. "Back off. You're scaring her."

The woman must have held some power, for the blue-man backed off with a smile. "Hai, hai, Konan-_sama._ But she's not afraid of me! Are you?"

Hinata simply stared up at him in shock. Oddly enough, she was more surprised than scared.

"Are you doing to stand there gawking like an idiot all day or are you going to come in, un?" a blonde with curtains knotted around his pelvis asked.

Hinata turned to stare at him until a pair of hands came out of seemingly nowhere and pulled her inside, closing the door behind her. Just as she started to struggle, they released her, and she swirled around in time to see the hands reattach to a man who was covered in stitches with a towel like the blue-man's around his waist.

Hinata stumbled back, only to step on something soft and squishy.

"HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU PUT YOUR JASHIN-DAMNED FOOT!" a voice screamed. She turned around to see what she was standing on.

A severed arm.

Hinata's eyes widened, and, with a screech, she stumbled backward and onto the couch. She watched as a man with silver hair and lots of shirts tied together around his waist came over and snatched up the arm with a glare directed at her.

Just then, the door opened and two more men walked in.

One had dark red-purple hair that fell to his shoulders; he was very skinny compared to the toned others—except the navy-haired woman, who had a very slight form.

The other had bright red hair, and looked like he was having a hard time walking—like it was something new to him. Both had nothing but towels over their waists.

"We put her back in her apartment," the skinny man explained, his ringed orbs drifting to Hinata. "Oh? She's home?"

"A tip?" the red-haired man offered. "Don't leave us with a babysitter anymore."

"Hah!" the silver-haired man scoffed. "Especially not a bitch like that that cuts peoples arms off!"

"Maybe if you weren't so _reckless_, you wouldn't have given her the chance, un!" the blonde argued, his ponytail bouncing as he turned to glare.

"Shut up, Deidara-_chan_!"

"You shut up, Hidan no baka!"

In the midst of their bickering, Hinata began to feel a bit lightheaded as something suddenly became clear to her. Of course, she was an idiot not to have seen it before.

These were the children.

These were the Akatsuki.

Her final thought before she passed out?

_I'm going to die._


	8. Chapter 8

** I haven't really replied to any reviews, and I feel like should, soo… I'm just gonna sorta do a mass-reply for the reviews on the last chapter up here. If you don't really care, you can just skip this part ^_^**

** THANK YOU FOR REVIWING, MY LOVELIES! I almost had a heart attack when I saw a three-digit number.**

** Me: First of all, nice name xD And thank you sooo~ muchies x3**

**ViridianBlast****: Hate no more, my lovely, for the next chappy is here! :D**

**ikmss18****: Thanks for reviewing! It makes me happy, too!**

**paranoidbychoice****: I know! But it will get better… worse before it gets better—but it'll get better real fast!**

**Alli ate Sora-Sorry Roxas****: *Laughs evilly* That is the reaction I was going for :D**

**harley944****: Thank you! ^_^**

**mori3****: I know right? I think I would die... of a nosebleed xD**

**I love creepy things****: I don't know, maybe. They're still kind of… Well…**

**hannah: Yeah, probably why she's an assassin and not a babysitter xD And here you go!**

**.Princess****: Me, too! If only they wouldn't kill you, right? Darn them and their badassedness. **

**otakuxfanxgirl****: Hehehe… you shall never know (until later in this chappy…) xP But, she ain't dead… yet… :O**

**Rosie Thornet****: Ahh… I hadn't thought about them thinking about Itachi… Oopsie… xP**

**in your dreams as well****: :P Thanks!**

**danietastic****: Oh? You think so? Well, thanks!**

**yerashi9921: Don't worry, hehe. Nothing's going to happen to Hinata.**

** DF-chan: Ahh! You really think so? The greatest of all? I love you, too! *glomp* And your English is fine ^_^**

**yashi14****: ! *glomps*… *Clears throat* I know what you mean about Naruto, and I am 100% set on putting him in here somehow! But I'm still trying to figure out how I'm gonna him in here. It's hard 'cause he's totally anti-Akatsuki. -_-**

** ** Sorry for any misspellings ****

** If they seem OOC, that's because (*coughtheyarecough*)—well, for one, they gave Sasori (who I think is most OOC), like, ten seconds of non-fighting screen-time so virtually no time for personality assessment—and they're sorta… different. Um, it's hard to explain, but, still, I tried. **

** Also, I've made this chapter English—*shiver*—d-dub. I know, terrible, but I really have no clue how they would address each other, so I'm just cutting all Japanese out. Sorry~! And I feel like this chapter is a WAY EPIC FAIL. It moves too fast and just—ugh—I'm sorry for posting it, really. I'm sure it's a giant nest of typos because I **_**can't**_** proofread my stuff. I'm just physically incapable of doing it—I dunno, my ADD and/or OCD, maybe? Meh.**

** I don't own **_**Naruto.**_

**(P.S. I have a poll on my page that explains why I haven't been updating-you'll understand if you have half a brain.)**

** EPICALLY LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE END!**

* * *

_SPLASH_

Hinata awoke to cold water on her face. She sat up with a gasp, butting heads with something very hard. She looked around the room and found the people that had made her loose consciousness in the first place still there. Luckily, though, they had found more suitable things to cover themselves with—robes. She speculated they had stolen them from the hot springs next door.

"OW! DAMMIT!" screamed a silver-haired man, rubbing the reddening mark on his forehead. "WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE GETTING HURT?-!"

"Karma," the stitched one explained, pushing the injured man out of the way. He leaned into Hinata's face. "You are Hyuuga Hinata, no?"

Hinata stared into his multi-colored eyes and suddenly felt faint again.

"Kakuzu," a monotone voice scolded as the blue-haired woman knelt down next to Kakuzu and Hinata. "You're scaring her. We don't want her passing out again."

Kakuzu backed off with a small grunt of understanding.

"You—you're—Are you—?" Hinata gasped out, shivering a little—because of both the cold water soaking into her clothes and the many criminals standing before her.

"I suppose you are going to ask if we are the Akatsuki?" the skinny red/purple-haired man asked, closing his ringed eyes. "Perhaps."

"P-Perhaps?" Hinata spluttered. "What d-does that m-mean?"

"It means we might have been at one time, but we ain't anymore, un!" a pony-tailed man explained.

Hinata closed her eyes, trying to relax both the knot in her stomach and the throbbing in her head. She opened her eyes and tried to place the grown ninja with their children forms._ Deidara, Nagato, Konan, Kisame, Hidan, Kakuzu, Sasori… and Itachi is in the hospital,_ she thought, her eyes scanning the room. Something that felt suspiciously like relief bubbled inside of her as a thought entered her head without permission: _Thank goodness, they're all here..._

"W-what do you mean?" she asked, trying to make her voice sound authoritative.

"It's hard to explain," Konan said gently, folding her hands and placing them on her lap. "We can remember being in the Akatsuki; we can remember everything about our lives."—Hinata had a small heart attack—"But the memories are like a dream." The blue-haired woman sighed. "Some of the things we felt very strongly about… such as religion"—she threw a not-so sly glance at Hidan—"still remain strongly embedded into our hearts, but other than that… it's as if we were born anew."

"D-do you sill believe in A-Akatsuki?" Hinata asked, fearful for the answer.

"Perhaps…" Nagato answered thoughtfully. "But… we also remember our lives as a child. We still have those feelings as well. We can remember it vaguely, and the emotions are very… raw."

Hinata blinked in confusion. The strongest shinobi in the world were feeling the emotions of ten-month-old children?

"We still feel a strong connection to you," Kisame explained with a big grin. "Even though some of us won't admit it." He threw a pointed look at Hidan.

"Pssh… I ain't got connections to no-fucking-body but Jashin-sama. 'Specially not some little Konoha ninny…" Hidan growled under his breath, glaring at Kisame.

"I beg to differ," Deidara put in, a devilish smile growing on his face. "You would have _at least_ called her a bitch if you didn't like her at all."

Hidan sent Deidara a vicious glare. "You—"

"Hidan, Deidara," Sasori cut their fight short, "not the time nor the place."

The two stopped their glaring at each other and turned their gazes on Sasori. The three had a stare-down for a moment before Deidara and Hidan turned their backs on each other, mumbling insults about the other and Sasori under their breath.

Hinata watched their bickering and found amusement building inside of her.

Someone sat down beside her with a sigh, and she turned to see Konan. The blue-haired woman was looking at her with an odd expression.

"It's odd…" she said after a few moments, looking down at her hands. "I can still remember all my training, and I think I have all of my previous strength." Konan clenched her fist.

The skin turned white with edges and endings running through it like inky veins. A piece fell from it, and Hinata gasped. The kunoichi picked it up and held it in her palm as it folded itself into a paper rose. She twisted part of her blue bocks into a bun and inserted the flower inside, keeping it up.

She closed her eyes. "I still have Shikigami no Mai, and I imagine that everyone has all of their techniques, as well." She turned to Hinata, her orangey eyes guarded and dull. "Are you… afraid of us?"

All the chattering in the room stopped as Konan asked the question that was on all of the Akatsuki's minds.

"I-I…" Hinata stammered. "I… don't know… I don't… think so," she answered, wringing her hands. Her eyes widened as the tugging in her stomach and the heat in her cheeks that came when she lied never happened.

"Eh?-!" Deidara come running over, pushing Sasori out of the way in his rampage, and earning a few not-so-kind words from the red-head. He dropped to his knees next to Hinata, who was sitting with her legs tucked under her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned in so close that their noses were almost touching. "You can't be afraid of us, un!" he informed her forcefully, giving her a gentle shake.

"A-ah…" Hinata blinked, heat spreading across her face like a wildfire.

"Wait…" Nagato muttered, looking around the room. "Where's—ah—Itachi?"

Deidara fell back and sat on his butt with his legs sprawled out across the ground. "Who _cares?_" His hand rose to gently poke the skin around his left eye. "Maybe he died…"

"No! He didn't die!" Hinata yelped. "He got sick… and he's in the hospital."

"Hospital?" Konan repeated. "Why? Why would you let him go to the hospital? What if he gets transformed?"

Hinata pressed her fingers together nervously, unable to look any of them in the eye. "W-well… he… kind of… did…"

"_What?_" Sasori hissed, his eyebrows furrowing. "Didn't you see the way that woman next door acted when she saw us?-!"

"Um… no I wasn't here…"

"Che!" Hidan growled, scooting over to her. He looked at her with a wide-eyed, half-crazed expression. "She went fucking crazy-mode and sliced me!"

"Oh, _please!_" Kakuzu rolled his eyes. "When you, one of the most wanted criminals in the world—or anyone for that matter—charge at someone with a steak knife, the only natural thing to do is to fight back."

"WELL, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO TELL EVERYONE TO LET HER DO IT!"

Kakuzu stared at him for a moment before smirking and turning away. "Your annoyance is something I remember clearly."

Hidan let out a scream of annoyance, pulling at his silvery locks.

"_Back,_" Sasori hissed, trying to get everyone back on topic, "to the matter at hand! Itachi is in Konoha hands, and—of all of us—he has the worst ties to this place."

Nagato sighed. "What should we do? Shall we go and rescue him?"

Hinata's eyes widened as she thought of Tsunade's panicked face when she examined Itachi—Sakura had thought so, too. She remembered the girl's words "This disease is extremely rare. It takes years to progress this much_._" Hinata bit her lip. She had never see Sakura be surprised at anything before, so what Itachi had must have been pretty serious. If they went and 'rescued' him, he might not make it.

"You should not," Hinata answered, causing all of them to look at her in surprise. She, herself, looked a little surprised at the sternness of her tone, but, nevertheless, she continued, "Itachi is very sick, and if you went and got him now, it would not be good for him."

They all exchanged glances before looking back at Hinata.

"How do you know this?" Deidara asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Trust me," Kisame said, crossing his arms. "He's sick."

"And you two never informed us of this, why?" Nagato asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Ah… blame Itachi for that. He didn't want anyone to know," the shark-ninja explained, waving his hand dismissively.

Nagato sighed.

"What do you suggest we do, Nagato?" Konan asked, standing and walking to his side.

"Hey!" Hidan shouted suddenly, running over to Nagato with a pointed finger. "I don't remember _you_ being in the Akatsuki!" He turned to the rest of the people in the room. "Why hasn't anyone else noticed this?-!"

"We have, idiot!" Kakuzu hissed. "And he explained it."

"Hidan, don't tell me you weren't listening," Sasori sighed, rubbing his temples. "Nagato explained all of this right after the girl was knocked out."

"No, no," Deidara shook his head. "He was too busy screaming about his hand to listen."

Hidan twitched. "Would _someone_ just explain it to me?"

"This," Nagato started, jabbing a thumb at his chest, "is my _real_ body."

The Jashinist blinked in confusion. "Real… body. So… the orange-haired guy wasn't you?"

The man's ringed eyes darkened. "No."

"Then who the fuck was that?"

"Hidan!" Konan snapped. "Enough."

"Che!" Hidan stomped away angrily.

The blue-haired kunoichi sighed. "Anyway, back to the matter at hand. What shall we do about Itachi?"

"We can't very well leave him there," Sasori put in.

"But…" Hinata started, but decided better and stopped.

"We know he's sick… now," Deidara glared at Kisame. "But you have to understand. We are some of the most wanted criminals in the world—Itachi especially—and when they get done healing him, he _is_ going to go to jail."

"Why don't we just go and get him after they're done?" Hidan asked, crossing his arms.

"If only it were that simple," Kakuzu growled. "Where do you think they would think he was but here? This is the first place they would look… and then they would find us."

"But," Sasori leaned forward, cupping his chin as he thought. "Itachi… if he were to get turned back into a child, and Hinata took him back… Do you think that would raise suspicion?"

"How do you know he will go back into child form?" Nagato challenged, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't." He shook his head at all the confused glances he was getting. "Think about it. Hinata could easily sneak in, and if he's in child form—well, great—but if he's not, she could do a transformation on him. It's a simple technique, and any ninja with a brain knows how to do it."

Kisame nodded. "Yeah, and she could take him home saying that she would continue with the mission."

Hinata bristled slightly at how they were making plans for her without her consent but kept her mouth shut as they continued to plan Itachi's rescue.

* * *

**Warning: Random kind-of torture scene ahead.**

**Warning: Anko ahead xD**

* * *

"So," a purple-haired woman circled the chair that Karin sat in. "You were spotted with Uchiha Sasuke." She stopped in front of the red-head and placed a finger on her cheek. "Care to explain what he is doing in Konoha."

Karin snarled. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

_SMACK_

The chair she was strapped to went flying across the room at the force of the woman's smack and landed face down. Karin had a hard time breathing. This only increased when she put one foot on the head of the chair and smashed Karin's face into the floor.

"My name is Mitarashi Anko," she growled into Karin's ear. "Now, will you tell me what you know or shall I _carve_ that name into your skin?"

The red-eyed girl gasped, though it came out as more of a choked sob. She had heard of Mitarashi Anko—everyone had. She was famous for her torture and ruthlessness.

"Hmm? Will I get to have some fun with you?" Anko asked at Karin's silence.

"N—No!" she gasped out. "I'll tell you."

Anko looked a bit disappointed, but she grabbed the chair Karin was strapped to and threw it to all four legs. "Talk."

Karin squeezed her eyes closed.

"Sasuke came and found me a while ago. After I sensed a large chakra spike, and all information about the Akatsuki stopped coming to me."

Karin suddenly found a hand around her throat. "You were tracking the Akatsuki _why?_ What does Orochimaru want with the Akatsuki?"

"Noth—ing!" she choked around the hand that was nearly crushing her windpipe. "Just—me!"

"Why?" Anko growled, squeezing harder.

The only answers she got were gasps.

_"Anko!"_ a voice sounded through the intercom. _"She can't breathe; she can't talk. Calm down."_

"Che!" Anko let go of Karin angrily. "Whatever, Ibiki! Just piss off!"

There was no answer.

"I tracked the Akatsuki on my own—Orochimaru-sama never assigned me anything like that. I was—I was only to guard the prison."

Anko's fists clenched. "What does Uchiha Sasuke have to do with this?"

"I went to Orochimaru with the information that I had. I told him of everything. Sasuke approached me later and forced me to track the chakra sources. I tracked them here, and here I found the chakra of Uchiha Itachi. But… it was so weak."

"Did you tell him where it was?" Anko hissed.

"Yes."

Anko turned to the intercom. "Did you hear that, Ibiki? He knows where they are now."

_"Yes, I heard. ANBU are moving there now."_

Anko shook her head. _It's too late. I'm sure the little brat's already planned everything out and made his move. _The purple-haired woman ground her teeth together. "They shouldn't have put such a weak little brat in charge of the freakin' AKATSUKI in the FIRST place!" she screamed, darting out of the interrogation room.


	9. Chapter 9

** Allllrrright!**

** I'm not going to go into detail here about my long absence—if you care, the details are on my profile.**

** Let's just cut the crap and get the part you really care about! Yayz! I made this chappy extra-long!**

** …**

** Now for the part the copy-right people care about:**

** I don't own **_**Naruto**_**!**

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke crouched in tree that was conveniently placed next to a window of the hospital. He had been watching for a while now, and he knew that every day at exactly 1:00 pm, the mother of the boy who was assigned that room came in and opened the window.

This was his way in.

He closed his eyes, pushing chakra to his ears and listening intently.

Footsteps, machines beeping, and... someone talking.

"Konan, I'm really not sure about this," the first voice said in a hushed whisper.

"Hush!" the second voice retorted lowly, as well. Sasuke ground his teeth together as he strained his ears to hear their quiet conversation. "You will go in the front, and I through the back. You are sure there is an emergency exit, yes?"

"Y-yes, but... are you sure he would want—?"

"It doesn't matter what he wants," the second voice interrupted. "We're in the middle of a highly dangerous mission. Now is not the time for second thoughts! Once we have him..."

The first voice let out a small, surprised gasp before urging, "'Once we have him'...?"

"Nothing. We have to focus on the task at hand here. You cannot do anything that puts the plan at risk."

There was a small noise of hesitation before. "Right."

"Good. Let's go!" the second voice said, and there was a scuffling of the soles of shoes against concrete before Sasuke heard something nearing him. He quickly masked his chakra further and pressed himself firmly against the trunk of the tree, hiding himself more in the leaves. He stared down at the ground below and stiffened as someone emerged from the shadows.

The person's cloak flowed behind them as the walked toward the back of the hospital. His eyes followed the figure as they rounded the corner and exited his line of sight. He leapt swiftly from the tree branch to the roof of the building, running and crouching to peer down.

_They're up to something, _he thought as the figure walked up to the door, placing two hands on it. _It doesn't sound good, either. I don't think Konoha would assign people on a "highly dangerous mission" into their own hospital. No, it's an intruder—two intruders at least. _

As he looked over the edge of the building, the person suddenly began to… fall apart. Sasuke's eyes widened and he let out a small noise of surprise as the figure turned into thin, white rectangles and flowed under the door.

_Paper?_ he thought, still very shocked. Suddenly, he shook his head, trying to re-focus. _That's not a jutsu I've ever seen before. Now I _have_ to know what's going on,_ he growled mentally, rushing back to his post at the tree. _Screw the old lady. I need in now!_

* * *

As soon as Hinata entered the hospital, someone called her name.

"Hinata-chan!" She turned to see Sakura running toward her, waving a hand to call attention. "Tsunade-sama told me you'd probably be coming by. You're here to see…" she paused, "him, right?"

Hinata blinked in confusion before nodding. Had Sakura gotten used to the idea of her friend taking care of the one who made the love of her life embark on a quest for revenge?

"It's not okay," Sakura said as she led Hinata down one of the brightly-lit hallways. "Him being here," she clarified, though she didn't turn to see Hinata's confused look. "It's not okay. But, everyone will be troubled if I make a big deal about it…"

Hinata could see the way the muscles in Sakura's shoulders tightened. "Sakura-chan…" she muttered softly, wishing she knew how to better console her friend.

"It doesn't matter," the medic-nin said softly. "What I think doesn't matter. I'm only here to help Tsunade-sama heal him." She slowed her pace to turn and look Hinata in the eye, a look of fierce determination. "I will work on him as I would anyone else. I will give it my all. I promise you this, Hinata-chan, I will not let my feelings cloud my duty. You don't have to worry."

Hinata gasped softly before looking away with a blush. Admittedly, she had been worrying that the pink-haired girl would do something rash, but she didn't know that Sakura knew that.

"I would be worried, too," Sakura continued. "If I were in your position. I suppose… I'll do all I can to help." She turned to her dark-haired friend with a smile.

"SAKURA-SAMA!" a panicked call echoed through the hallways.

Sakura stiffened. "That came from his room! Shit!" she growled, breaking into a run. Hinata quickly sprinted after her.

They arrived at the heavily-guarded room to see that the two jounin at the door had been taken down. They lay on the floor, unconscious.

Hinata pressed two fingers to her lips, _"Byakugan,"_ she whispered. Her eyes flickered to their fallen forms. "They're still alive."

Sakura looked at her, nodded stiffly, then looked back at the door. It was closed and locked—hospital doors licked automatically.

"SHANNARO!" Sakura shouted as she kicked the door in, sending it flying across the room. She and Hinata rushed into the room, only to find quite the sight.

Sakura froze—her entire body tensing. Her lips quivered along with her hands. "Sa… Sasu…ke…" she whispered upon seeing the boy standing in the middle of the room.

He sent her a cool look, his eyes betraying nothing. They then slid to Hinata. He took a step forward, coming toward her. The Hyuuga's eyes widened and took a step back, not knowing what his intentions were.

He stepped forward once more, his hand lowering to his sword.

_Beep… beep… beep._

Lavander eyes widened as Hinata turned around sharply to see a hospital bed. Inside of it was a large lump covered by a white blanket with a mass of raven hair flowing out of the top.

Itachi.

The muscles in Hinata's jaw tightened, and she turned around, pulling out a kunai just in time to block Sasuke's sword.

He looked shocked. "You protect this _monster?_" he snarled, his eyes bleeding angrily with the sharingan. Hinata gasped and immedietly looked down at his chest as she pushed against his sword.

"You would attack a sleeping man…" Sakura spoke in a low whisper, seemingly coming out of her trance. "You've really sunken low, Sasuke," she said, blinking clarity into her eyes.

Sasuke looked surprised for a moment before his face turned into a sneer. "I don't care what you think, Sakura. Your opinion matters none."

Sakura backed away from his intense gaze, seemingly frightened.

Sasuke smirked. "Afraid of me?"

She backed into the hospital bed opposite of Itachi's, and Hinata noticed her hands moving behind her back.

_What is she—?_

"HAH!" Sakura yelled, interrupting Hinata's thoughts. She threw two syringes, full strength, at Sasuke's head. Sasuke quickly jumped to avoid them, and turned just in time to see them imbed themselves completely into the wall, leaving two identical holes. "Scared of _you_?" she asked incredulously, though Hinata noticed how her voice shook slightly. Sakura scoffed and pulled two more syringes from behind her back, holding them as one might a senbon. "These contain the most powerful sedative known to man. Even a drop on your skin and you'll be out in twenty minutes."

Sasuke's lip curled. "You _trash,_" he growled. "Why the _hell_ are you protecting him? He's nothing but a _monster_!"

"Hinata!" Sakura called. "Get him out of here. I'll hold Sasuke for as long as I can."

Hinata gasped. "But, Sakura—"

"You think you can take me for even a _moment_?" Sasuke scoffed. "I'll destroy you."

Sakura pursed her lips, holding her hand that was armed with the syringes above her face like a shield. "I know."

Sasuke let out a humorless laugh and started toward his ex-teammate.

_Fwsshhh_

Three white shuriken flew from the doorless door-facing and imbedded themselves before Sasuke, preventing him from moving any further. The avenger looked angrily at the direction they had come from. "_Another_ hindrance?" he asked crossly.

"Yes," came the curt answer as a cloaked figure entered the room. It pulled its hood down to reveal a deathly calm looking woman. Her eyes were focused on the Uchiha and her jaw set in a very serious way. "Hinata, take Itachi and get out of here."

"Who are you?" Sakura and Sasuke asked at the same time.

"It is no concern of yours," Konan hissed at them.

"Whose side are you on?" Sakura asked, her body tensing and her eyes narrowing. This woman was powerful. Every movement she made just screamed it.

Konan looked at her evenly. "Neither."

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Sasuke roared, summoning his giant shuriken from the seal on his wrist. He let out a grunt and threw it at Sakura. The pink-haired girl let out a yelp of surprise before falling to the ground to avoid it. _He… He really tried to kill me just then…_ she thought. Her mind went blank for a second.

_**THAT BASTARD JUST TRIED TO KILL US!**_ Inner Sakura returned with a vengeance.

_"YOU BASTARD!"_ Sakura screamed, her voice tinged with an almost demonic sound. She grabbed the bars of the hospital bed behind her, ripping it off of the ground and hurling it at Sasuke as she jumped up from where she had dodged his weapons.

Konan turned to Hinata, who was standing and looking as though she didn't know exactly what to do. "Hinata, _take Itachi_! This is about to get ugly and during the commotion is our only chance!"

The heiress let out a small breath before nodding sharply and running to Itachi's bedside, pulling him into a sitting position.

"NO!" Sasuke yelled, turning from where he had dodged yet another overly-large projectile from Sakura and summoning another shuriken. He threw it at where Hinata was trying to rescue Itachi.

"HINATA!" Sakura screamed, holding out a hand as if to telepathically pull the shuriken away or pull Hinata out of its path.

Konan gasped, doing the same as Sakura, but also stumbling forward in a shocked run, trying to reach her.

Hinata turned slowly around, but she wasn't fast enough. There was no way she could dodge in time—

_THUD_

"AUGH!"

The shuriken impacted with flesh, and blood flew through the air.

Time seemed to stop.

* * *

**Hehe. I'll have the next chapter posted in a couple hours! I wouldn't do that to you… for **_**too**_** long.**


	10. Chapter 10

** *Coughs awkwardly* I guess that wasn't exactly a few hours… One word: Freshman Dx**

**It hit me like a train to the mouth, man.**

** I'll try to update super soon—I don't have anything to do this weekend… as far as I know. My friends are unpredictable.**

** I don't own **_**Naruto.**_

** Enjoy!**

* * *

Hinata opened her eyes slowly, having squeezed them shut because she didn't want to see herself getting stabbed.

What she saw made her gasp in shock. "N-Naruto-kun!"

The blonde smirked at her despite the blood running down his chin.

Her eyes widened at seeing the metal sticking through his chest. Tears welled in her eyes and she felt sick. "N-No! N-Naruto-kun, why did you—"

_POOF_ **(Well, ****KitsPokePeople, you had the sound right xD)**

Naruto disappeared, leaving the shuriken to clatter to the ground. Hinata gasped, the sickness in her stomach dying down. _A shadow clone!_ she thought, a smile rising to her face. _Thank Kami-sama!_

"Hinata," a voice called. She turned, wiping away her unshed tears, to see the man who had saved her.

"Naruto-kun," she smiled, "thank you.

Naruto smiled sadly as he walked through the door. His eyes drifted to Sasuke and his smile fell. "Sasuke…" he muttered, biting down on his quivering lip.

Sasuke snarled. "Tch. One after another…" He turned to Hinata with a fierce glare, his sharingan blazing. Hinata flinched and looked away. "I don't understand it. He is of no concern of yours."

Sakura gasped, seeming to realize something. "Hinata! His body will be fully relaxed in moments!" she yelled, her jade orbs panicked.

Hinata's eyes widened in realization. If she didn't get Itachi out of her soon, he would be turned back into a child before all of these people. She narrowed her eyes, the veins around them bulging, _"Byakugan,"_ she hissed to herself. With her near-360-degree vision, she saw Naruto looking at her. She turned to him.

He blinked at her, his eyes clearly confused, then looked at Itachi. "What do you care if he's relaxed?" he asked as his nose wrinkled up in confusion.

"It doesn't matter!" Sakura snapped. "We have bigger things to worry about!" She turned to Sasuke. "Hinata, you get out of here. Go somewhere where no one can find you."

Hinata bit her lips before nodding. "Right," she said stiffly, turning to Itachi. She forced chakra to her arms and gently tossed him over her shoulder.

Sasuke growled and went to go after her, but Naruto jumped out and stopped him with a punch. Sasuke dodged, glaring at the blonde. "Get out of my _way_!" he commanded, trying to chase Hinata again as she ran away with Itachi.

Seconds after she exited the door, there was a large cloud of smoke that suddenly surrounded her. She coughed, stumbling back to try and get to fresh air. She backed out of the smoke and found that, instead of a grown man in her arms, there was a sleeping child.

Hinata blinked in surprise for a moment before smiling and holding him tighter. "Itachi-chan," she muttered, staring at him for a moment before rushing down the hallway.

* * *

"What the fuck?" Hidan asked, breaking the silence that had been looming since Hinata had walked in with the small child.

"What happened?" Nagato demanded, leaning to look behind her. "Where's Konan?"

"Sasuke showed up," Hinata explained with a small sigh. "Konan stayed behind to fight him." Her eyebrows furrowed as she noticed something. "Um… Why do you all have blood on you?" she asked upon seeing small, red streaks on all of their fingers. It was a very tiny amount, but, still…

"Sasori," Kakuzu grunted, as if that should answer everything.

"Danna wanted to test our blood and see if he could find the poison that turned us into…" Deidara looked at Itachi, "that, un."

Hinata blinked. "How does he plan on doing that?"

Deidara shrugged. "How should I know? Ask him, un."

The heiress pursed her lips. She knew it wasn't a poison. Should she tell them? She looked down at the small child in her arms, deliberating.

Just as she was about to open her mouth, the window in the living room shattered. With a yelp, Hinata threw her arms over her face, trying to shield herself from the shattered glass. She gasped as a hand came down on her shoulder.

"Hyuuga Hinata?" a voice asked from behind her. She looked up to see the tell-tale mask of an ANBU. Her eyes widened.

"Y-yes?"

"You're safe now," he assured gruffly, looking up.

Hinata followed his gaze. She gasped in horror.

"AY! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?-!" Hidan screamed irately as a man held a knife to his neck.

"You idiot, isn't it obvious? We're their _enemies_," Kisame growled as he, too, was restrained like Hidan.

"N-No!" Hinata squeaked as all of the Akatsuki were restrained.

"_No_?" the ANBU asked incredulously, his head snapping back to her. "What do you mean 'No'? They're—" he wasn't able to finish his sentence as a senbon embedded itself into his neck. Hinata gasped as he fell to the floor.

"Ah!" she yelped as she fell to her knees beside him. "ANBU-san!" she whispered worriedly, shaking him to no avail.

_Thud_

_ Thud_

_ Thud_

Hinata turned around at the sound of bodies hitting the floor to see that all of the ANBU had been taken out.

"W-What are you doing?" she yelled, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Would you rather us be killed?" a voice spoke from the back of the house. Hinata looked to where it came from, only to see Sasori strolling out of the shadows, a few senbon still in his hands.

The Hyuuga hesitated. "N-No…"

Sasori looked at her evenly. "Then it was necessary." He hesitated, looking away. "Besides… I didn't kill them."

"Eh?" Hidan asked, one eyebrow rising. "Why the hell wouldn't you?"

Kakuzu smacked him over the back of the head, drawing a loud complaint from the Jashinist. "Shut up, idiot."

Hidan glared and grumbled things under his breath.

Nagato blinked at the bickering duo before turning back to Hinata. "You said Sasuke showed up? As in Itachi's little brother Sasuke?"

Hinata nodded, eyeing the still-sleeping child in her arms.

"How did he end up like that, then?" Kisame asked from where he had seated himself.

"Well, he was already asleep when I got there. I think they may have given him sedatives…" she trailed off, remembering Sakura's words at the hospital. _"These contain the most powerful sedative known to man. Even a drop on your skin and you'll be out in twenty minutes."_ The heiress pursed her lips. _I certainly hope they didn't give him that…_

"Hey, uh, hate to break up the tense silence, but," Deidara shifted uncomfortably, "don'tcha think we should think of what to do before they wake up or reinforcements are sent, un?" He looked nervously to the fallen ANBU.

Sasori scoffed. "Look who's finally thinking."

Deidara glared at him.

Hidan let out a loud snort. "Oh, _please_. You two are just pissed at each other because you got all fuckin' snuggly when you were little."

Sasori and Deidara twitched then looked at Hidan. Sasori gripped the senbon in his hand tighter. "Hidan… come here."

The silver-haired shinobi choked on air. "Augh! No! Get the fuck away from me!"

"Sasori! Deidara!" Nagato barked. "Leave him be."

Hidan smirked arrogantly, pulling at his robe as he mock-popped his collar. "Yeah. Leave him be."

"Hidan," Kakuzu growled, smacking him over the head. "Shut _up_!"

"Alright, here's what we're going to do," Nagato interrupted, and the room went silent. "Konan is at the hospital fighting Sasuke, yes?"

Hinata nodded.

"Good." He closed his eyes, going into deep thought. "We're going to have to be as discreet as possible about this. Sasori and Deidara, you two go and find a route out of the village that keeps us unseen. When you find one, meet us at the hospital. Quickly."

The two nodded, turning and rushing out the door.

Hinata's lips tightened in worry, as they were still dressed in only robes that she assumed were stolen from the hot spring.

"Kisame, you take Hinata."

The blue man's eyebrow rose. "Take her where?"

"Just stay here with her until you see the signal, and if anyone comes, destroy them."

Kisame smirked, nodding.

"The rest of you, come with me," he commanded, his eyes sliding back open as he walked to the door. The rest of the shinobi trailed behind him, disappearing through the doorway.

The shark-nin cleared his throat, jolting Hinata out from her trance of staring at the door. He smiled at her. "Hi.

* * *

"

Konan let out a growl as she stared at the Uchiha before her. It had taken being in a real battle for her to realize she was impaired. She clenched her fist, making a sharp paper sword protruding from her hand. Her chakra was hard to control. She felt like a genin.

It would come back, she assured herself. She could feel control coming back to her slowly. It had shocked her greatly when she went to send paper shuriken at him and found herself unable to do so. She had narrowly escaped his sword that time. The kunoichi had to remind herself of every small thing they had learned in the academy. Every single ninjutsu was a chore. She was tiring very quickly.

She let out a small gasp, pulling herself out of her thoughts as Sasuke swung his sword at her. She jumped to the side, blocking the sword with her arm and pushing him away.

The small woman jumped back just in time to dodge two syringes that were thrown by the pink-haired girl. The Uchiha jumped out of the path of them, leaving them to shatter on the floor.

The liquid splattered on Konan's calf. Impatiently, she brushed it away, never taking her eyes off of any of the three younger shinobi. She had learned at a very young age never to turn your back on anyone—even a comrade. The girl—Sakura— and the boy—Naruto—were against Sasuke as far as she could tell. Temporarily, they would have to work together. However, she could tell they had ties to the Uchiha, and, from her experience, she knew some people could turn on their village for ties. Personal experience.

A quiet gasp from the medic-nin on her mind made her look up. The girl's jade eyes were locked on her, wide in horror.

"What?" Konan hissed, nervousness sparking within her from the girl's unrelenting gaze.

"I—" she started, but was interrupted when Sasuke slashed at her with his sword. She hardly had time to dodge, escaping with a large scratch on her arm. She pressed her hand to the cut, medical chakra flaring around her hand. Her eyes flashed to Konan before zeroing back in on Sasuke. She let out a low snarl before turning back to Konan. "Get out of here!" she yelled.

"What?" Konan asked, stumbling back a step, shocked by the girl's words.

"I said get out of here!" the pinkette repeated, pulling a kunai.

The blonde-haired boy looked between the two, confusion clear in his eyes. He looked at the medic-nin. She gave him a still-frantic look. His eyebrows furrowed before he nodded, seeming to assure himself. "If Sakura-chan says you need to get out of here, you probably need to get out of here."

Konan looked at him, her brow furrowing. These two were truly odd.

"Where did that girl take him?" Sasuke demanded in a snarl.

Sakura turned to him, her eyes blank. She said nothing, slowly clenching her fists. Konan looked at her evenly as a bead of sweat rolled down her slightly oversized forehead. Just as the medic-nin started to open her mouth to say something to Sasuke, the window to the hospital shattered.

Nagato landed beside Konan, putting a heavy hand on her shoulder. The blue-haired woman's heart jumped slightly. Still, every time she saw him able to stand on his own and strong again, it shocked her—in a good way, she supposed.

Konan looked up at him and, upon seeing the question in his eyes, nodded.

The red-haired man jerked his head upward in answer, understanding. His ringed eyes slid over to the three younger shinobi in the room, narrowing slightly before snapping back to her.

"We're leaving," he informed her in a monotone.

"What about—?" she started.

"Yes," he cut her short. "And we're taking the girl."


	11. Chapter 11

** This chap. is for DF-chan~ Who made me the most epic fanart in the world!**

**Most epic fanart in the world: (Just take out the spaces, of course)**

**http : / lovehinasasu . deviantart . com /art/ Akatsuki-Babies-COVER- 255865949?q=sort%3Atime%20Akatsuki%20Babies&qo=0**

** And—LOL—yes, DF-chan, I'm a girl xD **

** Alright, since I've been so horrible on updating thus far, I've decided to make myself update every Saturday! So, from now on, if there isn't a chapter up on Saturday, I'd better have a pretty damn good excuse! Also, I'm going to try to make the chapters longer. Just because I love you guys so much~!**

** And I totally meant to update yesterday, but our power went out for some unknown reason! D:**

** I still don't have Naruto in possession!**

** Enjoy~**

* * *

Hinata sighed quietly to herself, trying to make it as inaudible as possible. She and Kisame had been sitting on what was teetering on the edge of an awkward silence for about fifteen minutes, and she wasn't exactly sure what to say or do. The man made her uncomfortable. Not because of his blue skin—she had one teammate with fangs and another with his body filled with insects. But, as she found out the hard way, he had no social skills—_zero._

Of course, one would think that two socially awkward people would hit it off wonderfully.

Quite the opposite, actually.

Both unskilled in making conversation that they had absolutely no idea what to say to one another.

Hinata wrung out her hands nervously, shifting slightly from side to side.

"Huh?" Kisame asked, looking up from where he had been staring at his hands.

Hinata jumped slightly at his voice. "I'm sorry?"

He blinked. "Oh… I thought you said something…"

Instead of replying, the kunoichi simply looked down at her lap. Kisame did the same. Only a second later, she realized that that could have been the perfect moment to start a conversation. She looked up at where the shark-nin was now staring down again, seemingly deep in thought and decided not to disturb him.

_Well,_ she thought with an internal sigh, _this is awkward._

Just as the thought exited, her mind, the door flew open, and she was suddenly being picked up. She squeaked in surprise as Kisame popped up from his chair.

"What's happening?" he asked, his arm swinging up and gripping at the empty air behind his back. He looked up and growled, "Damn. Keeping forgetting he's not there anymore."

"ANBU. On our tail. Leaving village. Now," the one carrying Hinata barked out. They Hyuuga looked up to find a head of red, spiky hair above her. She blinked as Sasori looked down at her.

"What do you mean 'leaving village'?" she asked slowly, her eyes moving to where Kisame was picking Itachi's small, sleeping form off of the couch where she had been sitting. He held his small partner awkwardly, as if afraid he would explode.

Sasori's eyebrow rose. "What else could it possibly mean?" he asked as he began toward the door. "It means we're leaving the village," he explained briefly. "Come on, Kisame. Everyone else has already gone ahead," he yelled to the man behind him.

Hinata opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced quickly when Sasori took off at break-neck speed. She looped her arms around the shinobi's neck in fear of him dropping her, squeezing her eyes shut and blushing a bit. This was so weird. She had never been carried before—not while she was still conscious. But, she guessed it made sense. Sasori was faster than her—they all were. She clenched her teeth and prayed that he would stop soon, as she was starting to feel sick.

Suddenly, the wind whipping her hair around stopped abruptly and she was being placed on solid ground. Her hands unlocked from around the red-head's neck and she placed them on the ground, trying to calm the rapid beating of her heart.

"Where do we go?" a voice above Hinata asked. She looked up to see that the shinobi had formed a circle around her and that it was Kisame who had spoken—she was grateful to see that Itachi was still with him.

"Well, we can't go back to the base," Nagato said, crossing his arms. "I suppose we could go back to Ame, but…"

Konan looked at him slightly. "But?" she asked quietly. Hinata looked up at the blue-haired kunoichi. Her eyes slightly widened at how pale the woman looked—her hair even seemed to be duller than usual—and, from where she was sitting, Hinata noticed her legs were shaking ever-so-slightly.

Sasori scoffed. "Ame? That's awhile away. We need a place to get away from the ANBU now. We won't make it there, and you all know it."

"Yeah," Deidara said, looking down at his hand. "I don't have all my chakra. It's weird, un…"

"Hey!" Hidan yelled suddenly, causing Hinata to jump. "There's village right down the fuckin' road!" he said, motioning in a direction. "Why don't we just go there?"

"Oh, yes," Kakuzu replied sarcastically. "Because they would _never_ think to go to the village right next to the place we're fleeing from." He turned to his partner. "Dumbass."

Hidan pouted, crossing his arms and muttering under his breath.

Hinata had to resist the urge to tell them to "play nice."

There was a sudden clanging sound behind them, and Hinata turned to see two kunai embedded into the ground. The ninja around her had turned their backs on her, taking a defensive stance. It was odd, she thought, being surrounded—and protected—by some of the most dangerous ninja ever to exist. A small tugging at her pant leg alerted her to the small child pulling at her.

She quickly picked Itachi up, standing, as well. "What's going on?" she whispered, hugging the toddler in her arms.

"Hell if I know," Hidan growled, then seemed to realize something. "Of course!" he yelped, turning to Hinata with a glint in his eye. "I am a genius!"

Kakuzu snorted.

The Jashinisht lunged at the Hyuuga, making everyone turn around in surprise. He suddenly started patting her in the stomach, making the kunoichi blush furiously. "W-What are you _doing_?" she demanded, taking a step back.

"Hush!" he commanded, grabbing her shoulders and turning her around, preventing her from seeing what he was doing behind her. "Aha!" came a cry of victory just as Hinata started to turn around. She felt something being pulled from her body and spun around to see Hidan holding up her weapons pouch victoriously.

"I see," Kakuzu sighed upon realizing that the idiot did _actually_ have a good idea for once. "Her weapons."

Nagato grabbed the pouch out of the proud-looking man's hands and flipped it open, revealing perfectly-organized lines of weapons. He grabbed a few and tossed the pouch to Sasori, who caught it, and, after getting a few weapons of his own, threw it at Kisame.

After a few moments, everyone was armed.

Just in time to hear the sounds of obvious fighting from a few yards away.

"We should go now!" Konan hissed under her breath. "Their fight most likely doesn't involve us!"

"Wrong," growled a voice from right behind Hinata. The Hyuuga gasped, her eyes widening. She turned quickly to find Uchiha Sasuke standing dangerously close to her. With a terrified yelp, she jumped a few feet away as the ninja surrounding her, in a flash of blinding speed came out of their circle and pointed their weapons at the boy.

But his eyes never left Hinata's. She quickly averted her eyes to his lips, watching as they curled in irritation, then formed the words, "Where is Itachi?"

* * *

**Since this was so short, I'll try to update sooner than Saturday this time ;P**


	12. Chapter 12

** Sorry for any typos, I typed this up really fast because I started at 9:30 pm (exactly) and had to finish before Saturday was over! I started so late because my friends took me hostage in my own home (aka a sleepover)**

** Oh, and thanks to _A Vampire Stole My Heart_ for telling me Kisame's sword is a girl… I haven't seen fish-man in so long I must've forgotten… or not been paying attention when he said "she" … it's probably the second one.**

**AND THANKS FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS I LOVE THEM!**

** I still don't own Naruto, and I hope you enjoy it.**

** Sorry, I really suck at fight scenes! Yet, I really like this chapter for some reason...**

** IT'S 11:55PM! STILL SATURDAY! XD**

* * *

There was complete silence in the forest. Everyone was still, frozen like statues.

A light breeze rustled the leaves, and blew long strands of midnight hair around Hinata's face. Her lavander eyes scanned the shinobi before her quickly, assessing the situation. Sasuke's right sleeve had a long tear, ripping the white fabric from his shoulder all the way to his wrist. Dirt and other debris covered his sweat-covered face, making it obvious that something serious had happened when he escaped Naruto and Sakura.

Hinata took a chance, turning her head with quick speed and looking back to the village before staring back at Sasuke's mouth, doing her best not to look into his blazing Sharingan. Sure enough, there was a cloud of smoke rising into the sky. _The hospital,_ she thought, a spark of concern lighting in her stomach. _He must have done something like set it on fire to separate himself from Naruto and Sakura, and then come after me._ Her teeth ground together as she wondered where all the injured people would go now.

She turned back to the Uchiha with an activated Byakugan, her eyes narrowing into glare. _Why would Naruto-kun care so much about someone as evil as him?_ a small voice whispered in the back of her mind angrily. She let out a small breath, trying to dispel her thoughts. _Everyone has good in them, _she thought back to it, reassuring herself. _And Naruto-kun must have seen that good. I have to trust his judgment. He would be crushed if anything happened to Sasuke._

She looked at Itachi in her arms as he stared at Sasuke through large eyes filled with child-like innocence. With such a different appearance and Sasuke with no knowledge of the current situation, Hinata could only pray that he wouldn't piece together the pieces. She looked at the ninja surrounding the Uchiha and took a step forward, laying a hand on the person nearest to her's shoulder and pushing her way in past their wall of defense.

"Itachi?" she asked quietly, yet sternly. "Do you see him here?"

Sasuke's fist clenched. "Of course not," he growled.

"Then why would you ask me where she was?" she asked, trying to keep the shakiness out of her voice.

Sasuke stood a little straighter, his body language all by speaking aloud that he knew what she was trying to do. "Are you insulting my intelligence?" he spat, one dark eyebrow rising ever-so slightly. "I saw you running away with him in hand. Don't speak to me as if I am a fool for looking for you." He turned and looked at the people around him, his eyes betraying nothing of his emotion.

"Why don't you just back the fuck off, dumbass?" Hidan growled, taking a step forward.

Sasuke's lips twitched as the Jashinist looked him square in the eye, challenging him. His ruby orbs widened, revealing the entire iris to the enemy and effectively capturing him in a genjutsu.

"Damn fool!" Kakuzu hissed at his partner, though he knew he couldn't hear him from the blank look in his violet eyes. "He has the Sharingan!" The stitched-man slapped a hand none-too-gently to the priest's back, forcing his own chakra inside and dispelling the genjutsu.

"GAH!" Hidan yelled once he was free, looking all around. "What the—?" He looked at Kakuzu in confusion. "What the fuck just happened?"

As a response, Kakuzu simply glared at him, looking more than a bit murderous.

"Will you two stop fighting?" a weak voice requested, drawing attention to the blue-haired woman who had spoken. Konan was looking extremely pale with dark bruise-like circles under her eyes. Her figure was slouched as she panted, a bead of sweat rolling down her temple.

"Konan," Hinata muttered under her breath, her brow wrinkling with worry.

Then, without warning, the woman fell forward. Nagato hardly had time to prepare himself when she went down, catching her just inches from the ground. There was a large poof of smoke.

And in the place of the kunoichi laid a child in a pile of dark clothing—sound asleep.

Sasuke choked on air, staring down at the child before his focus snapped back on Hinata. The heiress could almost see the pieces clicking together in his head. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably as Sasuke went even paler than normal. The missing-nin looked down slowly, almost fearfully to the child in Hinata's arms. Sasuke locked eyes with the child, staring down at him with a shocked expression as Itachi stared back, nothing but confusion in his onyx orbs.

"That's…" he muttered, his head snapping over to Konan before he quickly looked back at Itachi. "Him…" he finished, gulping slightly. "That's him…" the Uchiha repeated, his eyebrows twitching together slightly, unsure of what emotion to display. Suddenly, he looked positively infuriated, and all of his anger was directed at Hinata. "What…" he started, his eyes snapping up to the Hyuuga, who quickly directed her gaze to his mouth once more. "What did you _do_ to him?" he growled angrily, fists clenching so tightly that his knuckles went white.

Hinata held the child closer, taking a small step back as menacing chakra poured suddenly from the shinobi.

"Turn him back," he demanded in a low, deadly tone. "Turn him back so I can kill him."

"I can't do that," Hinata whispered softly, gulping. She had never felt more helpless.

"Can't do that?" Sasuke repeated in a monotone. "What are you talking about?" He looked up suddenly, Sharingan spinning in his rage. "Turn him back so I can _kill_ him!"

Hinata looked away, refusing to be caught in his genjutsu. "I can't… I honestly… don't know how…" she admitted, looking down. She really wished she knew how to turn them back. They were so helpless as children, and she knew that she couldn't protect them against threats like this on her own. _Useless,_ she thought, biting down painfully on her quivering lip. _Just like father thinks._

There was a flash, a clang of metal, and a quick wind that alerted Hinata to a very fast movement. Sasuke was suddenly before her, sword drawn. A flash of yellow blocked her vision for a quick moment. Deidara pushed Sasuke back with the kunai in his hands, then glared at the puny weapon like it was his worst enemy as the mouth in his hand licked the hilt. Sasuke ran at the blonde again, this time swerving around him just as the blonde went to guard, catching him off guard.

The bomber stumbled into a turn, trying to catch Sasuke's shoulder with the blade in his hands. He missed and ended up slicing through nothing but open space as he bolted forward, trying to catch the teen who was rapidly approaching Hinata.

The heiress pulled out the kunai from the holster on her side, tucking Itachi under one arm and blocking Sasuke's sword with the other. A red streak intervened, and Sasori was kicking at Sasuke's stomach. The avenger had a second to dodge Sasori's leg, leaving it to crash into a tree, breaking the trunk like a twig and leaving the large plant to topple to the ground with a large crash. Hinata hardly had time to dodge, laving her coughing at the dust it had stirred up.

She wiped her eyes, trying to remove the dust that was clinging to her sweaty skin. Sasuke darted at her once again, his eyes gleaming dangerously. This time, Kakuzu jumped out with a well-aimed punch which the teen narrowly avoided.

Another tree came crashing down.

Sasuke easily breezed by Kakuzu as he turned around to try and attack again, making quick hand-signs. He turned quickly to where all of the Akatsuki stood, his back to Hinata. He took in a deep breath as he made the last sign, and breathed out hard, flames flying from his lips as he did so. They formed a large fire-ball, which rocketed toward the shinobi.

They all scattered, going in various directions.

The fireball set the trees that Kakuzu and Sasori had knocked down ablaze. The flickering flames gave Sasuke a demonic look as he turned around and started to walk toward Hinata, his head hung low. The only thing she could truly see through the shadows the fire was casting were his bright, red eyes.

A small shiver ran down her spine.

_I've never tried this with one hand before,_ she thought with a small panic. _But I can't just put Itachi down. I know he's what Sasuke's after_. Her fist clenched, blue chakra flowing out and surrounding it. _I have to try._ Her entire right side ached with wanting to complete the attack, but she had to hold on to Itachi with something.

She bent her knee slightly as she leaned forward into a small lunge. Her lungs filled with air as the chakra started to take shape. "Gentle step!" she yelled, cautiously taking a step forward. "Lion FIST!" She leapt into the air, aiming the roaring chakra at Sasuke.

He looked up at her, eyes gleaming with the excitement of the heat of battle. He threw his hand out, throwing the kunai he had pulled to the side.

His hand clawed at his side, chakra sparking inside of his palm. "Chidori," he said evenly—even a little arrogantly—and the chakra jumped to life, making a loud chirping. Hinata's eyebrows pulled together in worry. This jutsu was legendary—there was no way her Lion Fist was stronger.

_Then I'll just have to make it stronger!_ a voice growled aggressively in the back of her head. She poured nearly all of her chakra into the jutsu and watched in amazement as the lion nearly doubled in size. The heiress ground her teeth together as the chakra singed her hand. Apparently, her body wasn't ready for something so strong. She didn't have a choice, though, she reminded herself, pouring more chakra into it as she flew at Sasuke. She tried to ignore the stinging and told herself that it was paranoia that was making her smell burning flesh.

Sasuke's lip curled as he leapt at her, his hand rearing back as he prepared to ram the chidori into her. Hinata thrust her arm forward as she reached him, trying her best to hit him straight in the heart with her jutsu. Then suddenly, he relaxed his hand, the Chidori disappearing.

_What? _Hinata thought frantically, adrenaline rushing into her veins. What was he doing? What was he planning?

He twirled his hand like it was wrapped around something, and Hinata's heart nearly stopped.

_No!_ she thought desperately as Sasuke pulled on the ninja wire propelling himself around her as she was suspended in mid-air. She tried to turn and hit him with her fist, but he was too fast. He had outsmarted her. Earlier, just before making the chidori to throw her off, he had thrown a kunai into a tree. Attached to that kunai had been ninja wire, and now she was suspended in mid-air while he was free to pull himself down.

He grabbed her right arm, pulling it away from Itachi. He grabbed the child, smirking arrogantly as he pulled himself down.

Hinata let out a roar as she pounded her now-useless jutsu into the ground, sure that, along with the ground breaking, a few of her bones had, as well. She lay in the crater she had made as Sasuke walked up to her. Her eyes were half open as he looked down on her, Itachi held under his arm like she had held him moments ago.

"I think I'll borrow this," he said down on her as her eyes slid closed, "just for a while."

And everything went dark.


	13. Chapter 13

**Those have to have been some of the most hilariously awesome reviews I have ever seen in my entire life! I tried to reply to all of them, but my mom started yelling at me to do my homework or she was gonna cut my head off.**

** I read all of them, though. And thankyouthankyouthankyou~! You all just leveled up on the epic scale~**

** Of course, I screwed up on updating. See my profile for why if you care. And, in order to it make up to all of you for being such a horrible author, I have a surprise planned :) It shall be announced some time in the near future.**

** I don't own Naruto, and enjoy.**

** **Please visit the bottom for important information and a question I need your help with!**

* * *

It was the worst storm the Fire Country had experienced in twenty years, and the worst Sasuke had seen in his entire life. The young Uchiha had been forced to take refuge in a cave on outskirts of the border to escape the rumbling clouds outside.

He let out a small sigh as the sky above him let out another growl, flashing dangerously. The raven-haired teen turned back to where there was a small child curled in the corner. He crouched down, placing a hand on the ground to balance himself. He stared at the child as he stirred slightly, his eyes opening slightly.

The onyx-eyed child sat up slowly, his eyes still glazed over and half-lidded with sleep. His small hand reached up and touched Sasuke's face lightly.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as he stared at the still half-asleep child before him. The toddler pulled his arm back and grabbed onto Sasuke's large sleeve, pulling himself up onto the teen's leg. He snuggled into a little ball on the avenger's chest and closed his eyes with a small cough.

Sasuke stared down at the small body with wide eyes. He slowly moved his hand to steady the child as he moved back to lie on the cave floor, still keeping on hand on his brother's back.

He sighed, his chest heaving up and making Itachi's head bob.

_Well… hell._

* * *

All Hinata knew was that she was in serious pain. Her left arm was on fire and everything else seemed to be sore. She slowly opened her eyes, only to have them droop closed without her consent. _Let's try that again,_ she thought, a bit angry with her lack of energy. She opened her eyes more forcefully and this time they stayed open.

She didn't dare move, though. Her body was already screaming at her for simply breathing, and she hated to even think about what would happen should she try to sit up.

Hinata noticed that she was lying in the middle of the room. She was covered in a blanket that was green and reeked of the forest. It was quite a comforting smell, actually. It reminded her of home. _Home._ Her eyebrows furrowed, drawing a screaming pain from her forehead.

Ouch. She must have hit her head pretty hard. _I can definitely feel a cut. And it feels pretty big._ Closing her eyes, she sighed lightly. _I can't believe I lost Itachi. I am such a failure. _Her throat became tight suddenly, and her eyes stung. _If what Naruto-kun says about Sasuke is true, he won't kill a child. But his whole life has been set on killing Itachi, and he seemed ready to kill him even when he was unconscious._

Her lip quivered slightly, and she only noticed that someone had entered the room when they sat down next to her. She jumped, and immediately regretted it.

"It's only me," the person assured, and Hinata looked up to find the honey-like eyes of Sasori staring down at her.

"Are they okay?" she asked, wincing at how hoarse her voice sounded.

"Everyone is fine."

She gave him a critical look.

The red-head sighed. "Fine. If you want the truth, Konan, Hidan, and Kakuzu got turned back into children."

Her eyes widened. "H-How?" she choked out.

"Well, Konan had an odd substance on her leg, and Hidan, being the fool he is, decided to do a taste test." Upon seeing Hinata's look, Sasori nodded with a sigh. "Yeah. And when he couldn't identify it, he shoved it in Kakuzu's mouth. I know it now to be a very powerful and fast-acting sedative. Needless to say, they were out in moments."

"Where are we?"

Sasori looked down dully at her. "We are at a hotel in a town called Onisarashi." When she opened her mouth for another question, Sasori cut her short, "You really should stop talking. You inhaled a lot of dust and smoke. Not to mention that your left hand has severe burns, and you have several broken bones in your arm. You bashed your head pretty hard when you fell, and it's a miracle that you don't have any brain damage."

Hinata pursed her lips, feeling like a child who had just been scolded.

He stood abruptly. "The only two people with the slightest medical knowledge were Konan and Kakuzu, so you're just going to have to heal naturally," he informed her as he walked out of the room. "I suggest you rest as much as you can. We're going to have to move soon."

* * *

A sigh escaped the lips of a red-headed girl as she sat in a cell. Her entire body was in some kind of ridiculous sack-thing with straps. She supposed it was to keep her from doing hand-signs, but, really, were the feet binds really necessary? If there was ever a ninja that could do signs with their feet, she highly doubted that they would be captured by measly Konoha ninja.

_Measly?_ Karin thought bitterly to herself. _So measly that you were captured by them?_

With a growl at her own thoughts, she crawled like a caterpillar to lean back on the stone wall. Closing her eyes, she decided to try and get some sleep since she had nothing better to do.

_Clack_

Her ruby orbs snapped open as she heard something ram against the bars of her cell. In the dim candle light, she could make out the spiky pony-tail and purple locks of the woman who had squeezed information about Sasuke out of her.

"Hello," the woman said with a smile.

_Her name was…_ Karin searched her brain. _Anko!_

As if hearing her thoughts, Anko smirked. "We have a proposition for you."

Karin narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean 'a proposition'?"

"It's common knowledge that Orochimaru only wants the best of everything. And you're a sensor, yes?"

Karin nodded slowly.

The snake-like kunoichi crouched down to the younger girl's level, her eyes glinting in the flickering light that the candle put off. "If you track down the chakra of Hyuuga Hinata, we'll set you free."

* * *

**Okay, okay, short, I know. But I can't continue with the story until I have some questions answered. And **_**please**_** leave me a review with your answer. It can be short and only contain the answer to one question, and I'll love you forever. Also, I accept anonymous reviews, so there's no excuse even if you don't have an account.**

** First, I would like to clarify that Sasori is **_**not**_** a puppet. And Kakuzu does **_**not**_** have his stitches.**

** This is where the first question comes into play:**

** Would you like to see Sasori turn himself into a puppet again and Kakuzu get his stitches or would you like for them to stay mortal and human?**

** Nagato, however, is staying just like he is. Sorry Pein fans xD**

** Also, would you like for Sasuke to be the main bad guy or someone **_**else?**_** (Three guesses on who xD) **

** And, finally, what if your favorite Hinata paring? Because I haven't decided if I want to put romance in here yet, but I can shove some moments in here if there's a landslide. Remember, IT DOES **_**NOT**_** HAVE TO BE LIMITED TO HINATAXAN AKATSUKI MEMBER! So you can say Hinata x Tree if you like (Please don't, though.)**


	14. Chapter 14

** SO SO SO SO SO SO _SO_ SORRY!**

** This is _not_ very long, I know! I have so much junk going on right now! Seriously! Finals are in a week and I'm freaking out man, FREAING OUT! And I have to write a ten page report on my _life_ with _NO__CONJUNCTIONS_! Do you _realize_ how hard this is for a person from Tennessee?-! Evil keyboarding teacher, I tell you! And I haven't had time to tally up the poll *sobs* I hate high school so much!**

** I've found the time to write because my grandpa had to go to some banquet thing for hunters, and I—surprisingly—have no homework. So you can thank my geometry teacher for this :D (You can also thank him for it being _so_ late. -_-)**

** Ah! I digress!**

** This chapter is mostly for Itachi and Sasuke~! Just trying to make you all not hate Sasuke in this story anymore. Hehe. Chicken-butt-head's just misunderstood. We're all closet Sasuke fans xD **

** I don't own _Naruto._**

* * *

Sasuke awoke to the sound of crying… again.

At first, he was completely baffled to open his eyes and find a crying child who looked suspiciously like him. He had a small heart-attack at the idea that someone had raped him and bore his child without his knowledge, but he soon remembered the true identity of the child. Somehow, he found that someone raping him would have been more comforting that the truth.

The avenger sighed, staring at the sobbing child. "What?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing. What did Itachi have to be crying about? Nothing was happening.

The toddler crawled up onto Sasuke's chest and began crying into his neck. Sasuke groaned in annoyance, holding the child as he stood. Itachi continued sobbing as Sasuke held him out at arms' length.

"Hey!" Sasuke barked, shaking his older/younger brother lightly. He ceased sobbing and stared at the glaring teen with tears in the corners of his eyes.

_GRRRROOOOWWWLLLL_

Itachi looked down at his stomach, which had just made an unearthly sound. He looked back up to Sasuke before bursting into tears again.

The now-elder brother sighed, shifting to holding Itachi with one arm as he tried desperately to drown out the sounds of crying.

Sasuke supposed he should have thought about this. Neither of them had eaten in more than twenty-four hours. Of course, he was trained for this, but Itachi was just a child.

The avenger blinked. It sounded odd even in his mind. Itachi was a child.

…and he was stuck with him.

* * *

Sasuke had been forced down into the village below in search of food, and he was very irritated. People kept coming up to him and asking—

"Excuse me, Mister?" he heard a small voice ask and turned to see a small little girl staring up at him with large, violet eyes. "Is that _your_ baby?"

—that question.

One charcoal eyebrow twitched. "No. He is not my child." _For__the__thousandth__time!_He turned abruptly, glaring slightly at his younger/older brother, who was looking at him with a completely innocent expression.

"Sasu mad?" he asked, blinking his eyes.

Those eyes—

"_ITACHI,__WHY?-!__"_

Sasuke turned away abruptly, his lips pressing into a thin line as his eyes drained of all emotion. "No," he replied in a monotone. "I'm not mad."

"Aah!" Itachi let out a cry, pulling on his brother's sleeve suddenly.

"What?" the teen asked, throwing a critical look to the child in his arms.

"I hungry," he informed the elder with a huff.

"Well, then, for the third time, I will ask you the same question: What do you want to eat?" Sasuke asked through clenched teeth.

"Omusubi*." he and answered rather seriously, staring at Sasuke with a business-like expression.

The older Uchiha's eyes widened. "Don't make that face."

Itachi blinked. "Why?"

_Because __you __look __like __the __Itachi __I __know __when __you __do._ "Because it makes you look like a girl."

"Eh?"

Shaking his head, Sasuke entered a small shop. "Nothing."

Sitting Itachi down on one side of the booth, he plopped down on the opposite side of the table.

The shinobi propped his head up and stared at the child before him. He wasn't exactly sure what to do with him. When he thought of defeating Itachi, he had always pictured a battle—not just killing him while he was small and defenseless and, well, a _child._ Never in his wildest dreams had he ever even _considered_ the scenario of Itachi being turned into a mere toddler and loosing all of his memory of the event.

Letting out an angry, forceful sigh, Sasuke rubbed his temples. Things had gotten oh-so very complicated. He looked at his "elder" brother and wondered how he had gotten in that state. The Hyuuga girl probably knew the answer, but there was probably no chance of him tracking her down and forcing the answer out of her. Not with all of those others around.

Why were they there, anyway? From what had happened to the blue-haired woman, Sasuke had pretty much figured that the same could happen to any of them—maybe even the Hyuuga girl.

The Akatsuki, of all people, had been turned into babies.

The Uchiha snorted, shaking his head and drawing the attention of his brother.

Itachi pursed his lips, throwing Sasuke a confused look. He tilted his head, suddenly talking on the picture of total innocence.

Sasuke stared at him blankly. It was hard to believe that this was the cold-blooded killer that had ruthlessly wiped out his own family. Sometimes, when he woke up, Sasuke would forget for a moment everything that had happened. And only everything that had happened crashed down on him did he realize how absolutely _peaceful_ he had felt when momentarily could breathe without feeling so _empty._ He _needed_ revenge, but he couldn't do it like this, could he? Could he really stoop that low?

"So, what will you have?"

The missing-nin blinked, looking up at the girl that was staring down at him with questioning eyes.

"Sorry?" he asked, one eyebrow rising.

She giggled at his confused look. "To eat," she clarified. "What will you have to eat?"

"Omusubi!" Itachi cheered, pumping a fist into the air with his eyebrows furrowed in determination.

Sasuke sighed. Yes. It was very hard to believe that this was the old Itachi.

* * *

A single black eyebrow twitched as a hunched figure shuffled down the street, leaning greatly to the right.

"_Itachi_, walk _faster._" Sasuke hissed as he stared at the small child holding his right hand. The toddler was clinging to the hand like it was his life line as he struggled to keep his wobbly legs under him. He had _insisted_ on walking—screaming every time Sasuke tried to pick him up.

It took all of the elder's will power not to just gag the brat and shove him into a sack.

"Mm!" Itachi protested Sasuke's complaint as he continued shuffling awkwardly, trying to keep from falling into the dirt. He turned to Sasuke with large eyes shining with sudden defiance. "'Et go!" he commanded as he grabbed Sasuke's larger hand with his small one and began trying to pry his fingers away.

Sasuke complied immediately, releasing Itachi and letting him stand on his own.

For about five seconds, Itachi was the proudest ten-month-old on the planet.

But then he fell.

And he fell hard.

Sasuke winced as his brother's tailbone hit the road. There was silence for a split second and then Itachi's lip quivered slightly. A small whimper came from his throat, and Sasuke dreaded what he knew was inevitably coming next.

"UWAAAA! ITAIIII!"

The ex-Konoha-nin winced at the sheer _volume_ that had come from the child. How something that loud could come from something that tiny, Sasuke would never understand. The teen looked up to see many people staring at them as Itachi sat and screamed on the ground.

Attracting attention was never a good thing when you were a ninja, and Sasuke knew that he was certainly being noticed right now by everyone on the street.

"Shh!" he shushed, holding a finger to Itachi's lips. "Be quiet! Stop crying!" he growled, looking around at all the people staring as he crouched next to the toddler, but the child continued relentlessly screaming. "If you stop, I'll—I'll get you something!"

Itachi, sniffling, slowly closed his mouth. "W-What?"

Sasuke winced. "Um, I—" He looked around wildly for something that a child would cheer up for, and he soon found it. A poster that announced a festival that night was hung on a lamp post. "We'll go to the festival."

The toddler's eyebrows came together. "… festivull?"

"A festival is…" Sasuke let out a sharp sigh. "Well, we'll just find out tonight won't we?"

* * *

Itachi let out a grunt as he ground his teeth together. His small hands clutched at the wall that he was leaning on as Sasuke stood behind him. Tears built in the small boy's eyes as pain shot through his body. He let out a huff, a bead of sweat running down his cheek.

"Sasu—it hurts!"

"Shut—up!"

"I can't—aghh!"

"Come on! Just—a—little—_more!_"

"Gahh!" Itachi let out a boyish scream as Sasuke pulled the obi around his waist tight.

"There," the shinobi sighed. "Finished." His eyes flashed dangerously as Itachi began to play with the tie that Sasuke had worked so hard on. He smacked his brother's hands away and glared at him. "Don't. Touch. It."

Itachi pouted. "Itches!" he whined.

"I don't care if it itches. You are not to touch it, understand?" Sasuke snapped, and Itachi pursed his lips, glaring down at his shoes.

**(Why? What did you think they were doing? *insert troll face*)**

Sasuke shook his head. "Whatever, let's just get going." He held a hand out and Itachi wrapped the small fingers of both of his tiny hands around it, waddling along and clinging to Sasuke for dear life.

The avenger sighed. This was going to be a long night.

His eyebrow twitched slightly as he caught a slight draft because of his current attire. He detested festivals.

It wasn't a long walk before they found themselves on a road that was lined with lanterns. Sasuke's eyebrow rose. How odd. The festivals in Konoha were the only ones that he had ever been to, but those festivals had taken up almost the entire village, and they had closed the gates to the village, so there were no paths to light with lanterns.

"Hey, are you guys headed to the festival?" a feminine voice asked from behind Sasuke. He turned around slowly, his eyebrows raised in slight surprise. He hadn't heard her approach. His eyes snapped down to a metal headband that was tied around her kimono sleeve. That explained it. She was a ninja. He recognized the symbol as Kumo and looked at her warily. Kakashi had often talked about Kumo ninja, and from what he gathered, they couldn't be trusted—even now that the war was over.

"Yes!" Itachi squealed before Sasuke could stop him.

The girl smiled brightly. "That's good, then. I was just going in the same direction. Could we walk together?"

Sasuke glared at her slightly. "Why would you want to walk with someone that you've just met?" he asked, pursing his lips. _Fangirl __or __enemy?_He couldn't quite decide.

She let out a small giggle. "Well, to tell you the truth, I've heard that," she bit her lip, looking away into the trees, "someone spotted an S-class criminal out here."

Sasuke stiffened. "No, really?"

The kunoichi nodded. "Yes. It was…" Her eyebrows furrowed. "Uhm… who was it again?" Her face scrunched up as she tried to remember, and Sasuke resisted the urge to shake her. Suddenly, she lit up, clearly having remembered. "It was Uchiha Sasuke!" she exclaimed, and Sasuke's face went completely blank.

"Oh?" He looked down at his brother, who looked ready to say something. Sasuke picked him up and shoved Itachi's face into his kimono. "Who is he? Is he dangerous?" He may as well find out the public opinion of himself when he had the chance, right?

The girl shrugged. "I don't know much about his abilities, but he's from Konoha. And he's from the Uchiha Clan."

Sasuke couldn't help himself. "What? I thought the Uchiha were wiped out."

The girl shook her head, her blue eyes sparkling in the lantern-light as she explained the story that he knew all too well. "Sasuke's older brother wiped out the clan, but…" she paused, looking down at the ground, "he didn't kill Sasuke…" She looked at him, asking the innocent question that shook Sasuke to the core. "I wonder why didn't he?"

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. "Yeah… me, too."

The girl looked ahead suddenly, a smile lighting up her face as she spotted the village before them. "Well, we're here. Thanks from protecting me from the monsters in the forest, mister…" she paused. "Hey, what was your name again?"

One side of Sasuke's mouth pulled up into a smirk. "I never said."

A single eyebrow rose as the girl looked at him for a moment before rolling her eyes. "Honestly, boys and their always wanting to be mysterious," she muttered to herself before shaking her head and disappearing into the crowd.

Itachi pushed Sasuke's hand away and looked up at him, finally able to talk again. "Sasu?" he asked, blinking innocently. Sasuke, somehow, understood what he was trying to ask.

"That girl wasn't talking about me," he lied, looking up at the festival and not at Itachi.

The young Uchiha's mouth formed a small _o_. "Oh!"

Sasuke shook his head. If only all people were as easy to fool as a child.

Itachi pounded his fists on Sasuke's chest suddenly, making the elder Uchiha jump slightly. "Down, Sasu! Down!"

A sigh escaped the missing-nin's lips as he maneuvered the child onto the ground whilst keeping a hand to steady him at all times.

Itachi looked up at Sasuke with large, glittering eyes. "Look, Sasu! Goldfishies!" he exclaimed running over to a booth.

Sasuke sighed, raising a hand to rub his temples.

Yes.

This was going to be a very long night.

* * *

Karin shifted nervously as she stood in the girl—Hinata's—room. She could sense that the girl's father was on the other side of the door, and, from the way his chakra was flaring, she could tell he was _not_ happy.

The red-head leaned over Hinata's bed and too a fistful of the white blanket. She stared at it for a moment before slowly closing her eyes. The signature was faint. The girl obviously hadn't been here for a while.

She turned to the ANBU in the corner of the room, her hand unconsciously clenched at the blanket in her hand. She really couldn't stand ANBU. Their masks had always made her skin crawl. "Where has she been?" she asked.

The ANBU's shoulders stiffened ever-so slightly. "What do you mean?"

Karin sighed. "Look, I'm trying to help you," she clarified, pushing her glasses up in a nervous habit. "If you don't take me to where the chakra signature is strongest, there's really nothing I can do for you." She shrugged, giving him an exasperated look.

The man seemed to deliberate for a moment. He turned to his left, cursing beneath the mask. Suddenly, he lunged forward and Karin had to stifle a scream as he scooped her into his arms and jumped out of the window.

"Hey!" she protested, her eyebrows furrowing. "I can _walk_, you know!"

"Silence," he commanded. "This is the fastest way. You are much too slow."

Karin's eyebrow twitched slightly as the wind from their speed turned each individual strand of her hair into a painful whip against her face. She winced, turning way from the wind for fear of her hair taking one of her eyes out.

They came to an abrupt halt and Karin felt herself being thrown roughly to her feet. She looked up, expecting to find herself only a few feet away from the Hyuuga household, but, instead, she found herself standing in the kitchen of an apartment.

_Damn, _she thought._ANBU __may __be __creepy, __but __they __sure __are __fast._

Karin turned around as the ANBU receded back into his corner to watch her as she worked. The state of the room was what caught her attention first. All of the lights were off, leaving parts of the room enshrouded in darkness. There was glass shattered all over the floor and wood blocking off the shattered window. When she looked hard at the carpet, the red-head even thought she could see a few tiny blood stains.

The sensor pushed her glasses up nervously. _Geez. __All __that__'__s __missing __is __the __creepy __music,_she growled to herself as she made a single hand sign. Immedietly, she was tuned into the chakra into the room. She noticed immedietly that the traces were the strongest on the couch and rushed over.

She crouched down on one knee, her hand hovering just above the fabric of the cushion. She inhaled deeply as she memorized the exact feel of the chakra.

Her red eyes slowly slid open. It was odd, she thought. The Hinata girl had one of the purest chakras that Karin had ever felt.

She turned to the ANBU, who was still standing, completely still, in the darkened corner of the room. A smirk formed on her lips.

"I can find her."

* * *

Hinata's arms tightened around Sasori's neck, her eyes squeezing closed. He had awoken and informed her just moments ago that they had to move. Apparently, the Akatsuki never stayed in one place for more than one night. Or, at least Sasori never did.

"Where is everyone else?" she asked groggily, open her eyes only slightly for fear of being smacked in the face with her own hair.

"Deidara went on ahead to find a village and get Konan, Hidan, and Kakuzu there," he explained. "Nagato and Kisame are searching the surrounding areas for any Konoha ninja or any of Konoha's allies' ninja."

Hinata bit her bottom lip. Hard. What were they going to do if they found any ninja? She wanted to ask, but she was pretty sure she already knew the answer. Hearing it from Sasori would only fuel her fears.

Hinata tightened her arms around Sasori's neck again, squeezing her eyes closed and praying that no one she loved would be hurt.

* * *

** *I would like to note that the spelling suggestion for omusubi is moosebird. Because that makes total sense. And omusubi is basically just rice balls—you know? Onigiri is a more used word here. However, I think omusubi would sound cuter with chibitachi saying it. Omusubi!**

** Okay, so, I wrote out this long review-reply thing, but them my computer goes all crazy and decides it's time to restart randomly. And then it's like "here's what you didn't save last time" but then it says "psych! I only saved everything that you had already saved before I restarted! Guess what, fool! You didn't save the review replying-to!"**

** …not in those exact words, but, you know, close enough.**

** Now, since you were all _so_ epic, about 70% of the words were _thank__you_, and the other 30% was either answering questions or some other stuff that I can't remember.**

** Sorry.**

** I am _not_ typing all that up again. I would probably go on a psychopathic rampage because every word I typed would remind me of what my stupid computer did. Ugh. It enrages me just to think about it.**

** However, I _have_ to mention a couple people because their reviews were just… review-tastic. I really hate replying to reviews like this, and I'd really much rather reply to them by PM, but, for one, my internet is being weird and I'll have to work a bit to get this online, and, two, one of them is anonymous. **

** 1. Curious Nightmare: I'm really glad you stopped by to review, and I'm sorry to hang you out in the open like this. And, phew, it's nice to know that I can pull shoving all that into one story without it getting ridiculous. Also, it's nice to know that those stupid errors that make me want to cry when I see them don't ruin the story for you ^_^; Honestly, I was thinking about making the Uchiha brothers "kiss and make up" in an adorable way, but your review kinda pushed me over the edge and I went a little crazy with this chapter xD Hope you like it~!**

** 2. Shianne: Yeah, to be honest, I usually loathe stories like this, too. I was worried it was getting a little on the "squishy" side, and I'm glad that you don't think so. That explanation nearly killed me—ugh, _so_much time on Narutopedia that I now scream every time the name of that website comes up in passing! I'm _really_ glad you liked it, and your review bumped up my ego a few points. Hehe, thanks for reviewing!**

** And—gah!—so many more (229 more, actually *faint*) that I want to reply to. I was _so_ happy about the size of the reviews this time. Of course, I took all of your votes into account, but the poll isn't yet closed, so if this chapter changes your opinion on things, please feel free to change your vote or… something ^^; **


	15. Chapter 15

**Sooo…**

**I think that I actually have a plot planned out until the end! For the first time ever, I might actually finish a story :D (I totally just jinxed myself. *knock on wood*)**

**And, finally, after looking after what all you prefer for Sasori and Kakuzu and all that jazz, I have come to a conclusion. Sasori and Kakuzu are going to change themselves back.**

**…eventually… maybe…**

***Shot***

**I don't own **_**Naruto**_!

* * *

Hinata sighed as she looked down at her reflection in the water that sat under the dock she sat on. She tilted her head, watching as her reflection did the same. Her eyes wandered down to her arm. White bandages were crisscrossed over the skin up to her shoulder, squeezing it so tight that the ends of her fingers were numb.

She lifted her arm, looking it over. At the very edges of the bandages, which stopped just where her fingers began, she could see the red, burned skin that she had gained from her fight with Sasuke. Now that she looked back on it, she couldn't even believe that she had even challenged Sasuke _Uchiha_ of all people!

She shook her head, leaning back on her good arm to look at the sky. The clouds were dark, but there was a single ray of sunshine cutting through the darkness. The corners of her lips turned up slightly—forming a small smile. What a beautiful sight.

"It seems like it's about to rain," a deep voice informed her. She turned around and saw that Nagato was standing behind her.

Hinata looked at him in slight confusion. She hadn't heard him approaching at all. It was freaky how quiet they were. Most of the time, she could hear people—even ninja—approaching. Hinata shifted her position to face him, looking up at where he stood. He looked very tall from where she was, and that bothered her for some reason. My goodness, she had known him a week ago and had even changed his diapers.

That thought brought a small blush to Hinata's cheeks as the red-head sat down beside her, looking out at the clouds. "But maybe it won't," he mused, continuing on about the rain. "These clouds don't look as…" he paused, thinking of the words, "thick as they should."

The heiress looked at him in confusion. In the short time that she had known him, Nagato had only approached her when he had something to say. She was, admittedly, a bit afraid to find out what he had to say. From what she had gathered, most of the time Nagato was the one to deliver the bad news.

"Your arm is infected."

And there it was.

Hinata gasped, her eyes widening as shock jolted through her like a strike of lightning. "What?" she choked out.

"Yes." He looked down at the water blow them. "Sasori did all he could to prevent this from happening, but we have limited supplies, and since we're supposed to be lying low, we are unable to take you to a hospital."

Hinata felt the blood drain out of her face. "So… what do we do?"

Nagato sighed lightly. "We're going to try and seek out an expert medical ninja before the infection spreads any farther." He stood, brushing his pants off.

Hinata bit her lip, curling into a small ball as she stared out at the water. A hand came down on her head, and she looked up in surprise. Nagato shifted awkwardly as he patted her head once more.

"Don't worry about it. You're going to be just fine," he assured before withdrawing his hand, coughing awkwardly, and walking away.

Hinata watched him walk away with a growing smile. He really wasn't that much different that the baby whose diapers she had changed.

At that thought, her smile dropped and she blushed furiously yet again.

* * *

_Snap_

Karin jumped as a branch behind her was broken in half by the force of her pushing off from it. She looked back to see the two ANBU trailing behind her also looking down at the splintered wood as it quickly faded from their view.

"You should be more careful. We could be detected if you keep breaking things," the one in the blue pants informed her. Karin had long since given up trying to decode what kind of animals those were painted on their masks. Therefore, she thought of them as Blue Pants and Green Pants.

"Right, sorry," she growled. How ridiculous. It wasn't her fault that the Hinata's chakra had lead them through the trees with the driest, weakest wood in the entire country. Karin was beginning to hate ANBU more and more ever moment she spent with them.

The red-head bit down on her lip. Really, what were her odds of winning against two ANBU and getting away without being caught again. A sigh fell from her lips. _Zero_.

"Agh!" Karin winced as her ankle twisted awkwardly on a branch. Man, she was tired. She knew it was well before the sun had risen when they left the village. Now it was well into the afternoon, and they hadn't stopped once.

Her eyes flicked upwards. There wasn't much visibility of the sun on this dreary day, but the few glances that she had gotten told her that it was past noon. She pursed her lips as she turned around to her ANBU "escorts" (as they liked to call themselves). "Can we stop? I can't keep tracking forever if my chakra is low."

The two looked at each other before nodding.

"We will stop for a while and let you regain your strength," Green Pants informed her. "There is a village up ahead."

* * *

When he said up ahead, Karin had thought "up ahead. Maybe a few more feet and a mile or a kilometer at most!"

No.

Up ahead, apparently, meant another hour journey in ANBU speak.

The red-head sighed as she fell down into a booth inside the restaurant that her two escorts had decided to stop at. The two shinobi sat down on the other side of the booth, and Karin's eyebrow rose at the sight. Both Green Pants and Blue Pants were quite muscular if she did say so herself, and they looked very awkward and uncomfortable squeezed into one tiny booth.

"How close are we to her?" Blue Pants asked, taking this chance to squeeze information out of her.

Karin sighed, rubbing her forehead as she finally shut her tracking powers down. "I'm not quite sure. It doesn't exactly work that way…"

She shrugged to herself as the waitress handed them glasses of liquid. Karin didn't know or care what was inside. She picked it up and gulped the contents like a traveler who had been lost in the Wind Country for weeks. She slammed the cup down and looked at the waitress, who was staring down at her in slight surprise. The girl blinked a few times before gigging to herself.

"I'll just bring you something else to drink, then," she said and walked off after throwing Karin a small smile. The red-head pressed two fingers to her lips as she activated her jutsu for one final time, her eyes sliding closed as she searched for the familiar, pure chakra that she was searching for so hard. Instead, she found something else.

Shock shot through her like a hot bolt of lightning. That chakra could only belong to one person. She bit her tongue sharply to try and douse the flames of panic, remembering that there were two ANBU staring at her. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at their eye-holes. She couldn't tell if they were suspicious, as she couldn't see their eyes.

"She's not here," she said evenly, trying to stay as calm as possible. Karin crossed her arms. "She's actually not anywhere close," she pushed her glasses higher on her nose and pouted. "We should just stay here tonight so I can rest up!" she tried to act like herself as she desperately tried to bring her escorts' attention from discovering what she had while scanning the village.

Sasuke was here.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke was not having a good day.

In the past few days, he had gotten used to waking up to Itachi's sobbing. However, this morning, he awoke to silence. He was glad, of course, that he could actually get a full night's sleep.

He stood from his place on the cave floor and went to where Itachi was sleeping. "Itachi, wake up," he said as he reached down and shook the child. Immediately, he knew something was wrong. The child's skin was burning hot, and his small frame was shaking ever-so slightly.

Of course, he had shaken the child in order to try and awaken him. But Itachi would not wake up. He shook him harder, but the only thing he got was a half-pained, half-agitated groan.

Sasuke panicked.

Itachi couldn't die! Sasuke had to kill him!

Sasuke stared down at Itachi as he panted and shivered to himself. He ground his teeth together as he stood and walked to the edge of the cave, overlooking a vast forest and the small village.

He certainly was not a medical ninja. He hardly knew the basics, and if he had attempted to learn anything further than what was required in the academy, the memories were long since buried with pile upon pile of jutsu and techniques for battle from Orochimaru's training.

Orochimaru.

Suddenly, he remembered the existence of the snake man. He had forgotten about him with all the shock from finding Itachi in such a state. Over the years Orochimaru had come to trust Sasuke in his own, twisted way. Therefore, it was much easier than it should have been to sneak out of the base. All he had to do was go out to "train" and he easily slipped away.

Sasuke's frown deepened. Orochimaru could very well be out there looking for him right now. That combined with Itachi's sudden sickness was enough to drive him absolutely insane.

He bit down on the pad of his thumb. He had to do something. He had to get Itachi well and he had to get him grown so he could finally carry out years of plotting for revenge.

Suddenly it hit him and he almost smacked himself for not seeing it sooner.

Hyuuga Hinata was the answer to all his questions.

He had to find her.

And he knew exactly how he would.

* * *

Karin sighed to herself as she walked out of the bathroom. She had convinced them to get a two-room suite. (Both Blue Pants and Green Pants had said "impossible" at the exact same time in the exact same tone when she had asked for two separate rooms.)

She had just finished putting her clothes on after her shower and was picking up a brush when a gust of wind hit her in the back of the neck. She stiffened, her knees locking and her lungs refusing to take in any air for a split second.

The red-head turned swiftly, a kunai materializing in her hand. She threw her arm back and prepared to throw the knife, but she was quickly restrained—one arm pinned against her head and the other, which held the knife, was being all but crushed at the wrist. The sharp blade of the knife pressed against her skin and she sucked in that breath that could have been her last.

"Sasuke," she growled, grinding her teeth together.

The Uchiha smirked. "Looks like you just became useful again."

* * *

**I know that this chapter probably had at least triple the typos than usual... I'm on my new computer that I got for Christmas! It's a mac and it's CONFUSING. Anyway, now that I'm done with this chapter I have to go get in the storm shelter because there's a tornado on the way. Wish me luck on not dying :D See you next time!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the delay!**

** These past few weeks have been super-crazy. I have loads of makeup work and mid-term studying that I'm supposed to be doing, but I snuck in some time for you guys. :D**

** I'm sure you haven't noticed, seeing as there's been no reason for you to go to my page, but I deleted almost all of my stories. So, for any of you who were interested in them, just know that I **_**plan**_** on re-writing them. However, ya'll know how most of my **_**plans**_** turn out xD**

** I'm also **_**planning **_**on writing another AkaHina fic because of the heartbreakingly low amount of them. T_T It's probably gonna be a high school one because I haven't seen many of them floating around and the few that do exist have probably been abandoned... **

** Anyway, I seem to forget this myself while writing a lot. So, if I make an oopsie and write someone as grown up who's not, feel free to smack some sense into me with a review, okay? Yes, so here's a list of everyone who's grown up and everyone who's not:**

** Babies:**

** Konan **

** Hidan**

**Kakuzu**

**Itachi**

**Adults:**

** Nagato**

** Sasori**

** Deidara**

** Kisame**

** Alright! Here goes. Please forgive any typos/grammar errors/misspellings. I really need to get a beta. xD**

**I don't own **_**Naruto.**_

* * *

It was strange, Hinata thought, how one could actually become _sore_ from sleeping too much. The heiress made a small noise of displeasure and tried to move into a more comfortable position. She yelped as heat flashed up her arm, almost bringing tears to her eyes at the painful sensation.

"Oi! Are you okay?" Kisame asked, swinging in through the window. Her little group had decided that they would take turns guarding the hotel (and Hinata) on the roof, and, apparently, it was Kisame's shift.

She bit her tongue to hold in a scream as she lifted herself up with her arm screaming for mercy. She smiled at him. "P-Perfectly fine," she answered, cursing herself mentally for slipping up and showing a sign of weakness.

He looked a bit skeptical but, thank goodness, nodded. "Right. Just call if you need anything. Sasori and Deidara should be back soon."

She blinked, realizing something. "Where are Hidan, Konan, and Kakuzu?" she asked, a small stab of panic rising in her throat. Could they have wandered away?

"Nagato has them," Kisame doused the flames of worry. "He's just in the other room. Want me to call them in here?"

Guilt washed over her like a tsunami. She had been so out of it because of all the sedatives Sasori had given her that she hadn't even thought about the children. _Dammit! _she cursed mentally. _I'm so useless sitting here like this! _She glared at her bandaged arm, biting down on her lip. "No, that's fine."

The blue man nodded. "Right. Try to get some rest."

She smiled. "Okay." _If I rest anymore, I will melt into a puddle,_ she thought, but, nevertheless, settled back down into her bed, arm burning the whole way. Her head hit the pillow and she glared at the ceiling boards. _How long will I be like this?_ She clenched the fist of her good arm. _I really don't know how much more of this I can take…_

* * *

The wind roared past Haruno Sakura's ears as she rushed through the trees. Tsunade-sama had sent her on a special mission to collect a rare flower from the priestess of the nearby Inari Shrine. She should have been focused on the mission, she knew, but she couldn't stop thinking of Hinata.

It was unbelievable how fast things had happened. She was one of the few who knew what had actually happened. Everyone who asked in Konoha was told that she was away on a secret mission. Tsunade-sama had told them that only to make the Hyuuga happy. She knew that they wouldn't question if told that their daughter was doing something as honorable as working an important mission.

Her mouth curled into a snarl as she thought about what had really happened. Naruto knew, too. Of course, the moment that it was announced there were ninja going after her, the blonde had eagerly insisted on going. The hokage had quickly shot his plans down, though. She wasn't sure how, exactly, the Akatsuki had been effected by the bomb now, but she was taking no chances of them getting the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.

Sakura had wanted to go, too, but she knew the ANBU could do a better job of finding Hinata than she ever could. She poured chakra into her legs, trying to get to the shrine quickly so she could get back to Konoha and check up on how the search was going.

The kunoichi bit her lip. She and Hinata had never been really close, but she knew the shy Hyuuga was probably one of the nicest—if not _the_ nicest—person in all of Konoha. She had a patience of steel, which was surely needed to be on a team with Kiba and that oddball Shino. The pinkette held a lot of respect for Hinata, and she wanted her back as soon as possible. She made a mental vow to get to know her better when she returned.

Just as Sakura saw the shrine up ahead, she notices two dark figures on either side of her. She darted to the forest floor, drawing a kunai and trying to look in all directions at once. She snarled, noticing that the figures had disappeared.

"Show yourself, coward!" she yelled, gripping the handle of the kunai.

There was snicker from somewhere above her. "Ey, Danna, she's talking to you, un."

"Che," said another voice. "If anyone is cowardly here, it's you, brat."

"Hmm? You think you can take pinky here on your own?"

Sakura ground her teeth together. They were fighting over which one of them was going to kill her? Who _were_ these people? They had some nerve! A small smirk plated on her lips as their banter continued. She slowly slid her kunai back into her weapons' pouch and clenched her fist. Her smile widened at the small sound that the fabric made when her fingers rubbed together. Oh, she loved that sound. It meant that some fun was about to happen.

She pumped nearly all of her energy into her fist and reared back. "SHANNARO!" Her fist met the ground and a sickening crack was heard. For a split second, one would think that it was Sakura's knuckles, but then the ground buckled under her. Waves like the ocean flowed through the ground, knocking over trees and splintering earth with all of the power of a natural disaster.

She looked up as her two followers were forced from their hiding from the trees and to the ground. She cracked her knuckles as she stared at the two cloaked figures.

The one on the left let out a small chuckle as it threw its hood back. "Damn, girl. I'd hate to make you mad, un," he said, his one visible eye gleaming.

Her lip curled. "Too late."

The blonde fake-cringed. "Yikes. Well, Danna, I think we should just bag her and go. I'd hate to mess up my pretty face."

The young boy threw back his hood, as well, and sighed. "Yes, Deidara-_chan,_ we all know how much you care about your face."

"Oi!" the blonde started, but was cut off when a shuriken whizzed through the air. He jumped out of the line of the weapon just in time and glared at Sakura. "_Bitch,_" he growled, preparing to lunge at her, but the redhead thrust his hand out, stopping him.

"I was hoping we could settle this peacefully."

Sakura's eyebrow rose. "Settle what peacefully? What do you want?"

"You see, we have a dear… friend… who is very, very ill. We need your help to heal her."

Sakura pursed her lips. "Why don't you just take her to a hospital."

He smirked. "If only it were that easy. We're not exactly… welcome at the hospital."

Deidara chuckled. "Or anywhere, really."

Suddenly, Sakura's stomach twisted nervously. She didn't like where this was headed. "Why?"

Deidara's lips curled into a feral smile. "Well, who wouldn't be afraid of the Akatsuki?"

The kunoichi gasped and reached for her weapons, but they were faster than her. The senbon hit her in just the right pressure point on her neck and she fell into the darkness of unconsciousness.

* * *

**Okay, I'm not review begging or anything, but I really could use some criticism ^^; Don't get me wrong, the love ya'll give makes me EXTREMELY happy and I _love_ it and it makes me want to write more for you! However, you could at least point out some negatives. xDD To be quite honest, I have no idea why you scarce few are still reading this. It's absolutely horrible, and I almost deleted it when I went on my mass story-deleting escapade.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'm sorry it's sucky, as usual~~ xP**


	17. Chapter 17

** I don't own **_**Naruto.**_

* * *

Hinata awoke with a start as the door to her room flew open. Sasori and Deidara walked in—Sasori with a large, brown bag thrown over his shoulder. Hinata looked at him oddly, but he said nothing.

Instead, he threw the bag down next to her and knelt next to it. He undid the ties on the end quickly and looked at Hinata for a moment before opening it.

Hinata gasped in horror. "_Sasori! Deidara!_" she hissed, lunging for the unconscious kunoichi that lay on the floor. "What did you _do_ to Sakura-san?-!"

Both shinobi blinked at her without showing any remorse. "We brought her to heal you, un," Deidara finally spoke after a moment.

The tenseness in the heiress's stomach loosened a bit. "So, she's not…"

Sasori rolled his eyes. "No, she's still alive. She wouldn't be much good if she were dead, would she?"

Hinata threw him a sharp look and he pursed his lips, looking away from her and muttering things that the Hyuuga was fairly sure she didn't want to hear under his breath. She stared at him pointedly for a few more seconds before turning her attention to the unconscious girl on the ground.

She leaned over—holding in a wince at her arm as she did so—and gently shook the kunoichi. Sakura groaned but didn't open her eyes.

"Sakura-san!" Hinata called, hoping the girl would respond to her name. Her eyelids fluttered before she squeezed them shut.

She groaned, her nose wrinkling. "Oh, _man._ My head!" She opened her eyes and looked around the room suspiciously. Her emerald orbs settled on Hinata and for a moment, she just stared. Then, "Hinata?-! What the hell?-!" She sat up sharply, narrowly missing a full-on head-butt with the Hyuuga. "Where did you go? Are you okay? Did they hurt you? What happened to your arm? _Did they hurt you_?-! Which one did it? I'll kill them!"

Hinata held up a hand as if to deflect all the questions, a nervous laugh complimenting her small smile. "Nobody hurt me, Sakura-san,"—_nobody except Sasuke—_"I'm perfectly fine."

Sasori let out a loud snort. Hinata threw him a look. The exchange seemed to alert Sakura to the two men's presence. She glared at them before turning back to Hinata. Her eyes—instead of the worry they held moments ago—were filled with suspicion and a hint of distrust. "Then what, exactly, _is_ going on?"

The heiress closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. "Where to begin?" She looked up at Sasori and Deidara. "Would you mind giving us a moment, please?"

They exchanged a glance before looking down to Sakura—whose attention was still focused solely on Hinata.

Hinata smiled as she realized they were worried about her being alone with the medic-nin. "Don't worry. We're fine. I'll call if I need anything."

Sasori pursed his lips into a stiff frown. "Of course you will." With that, he grabbed Deidara and toted him out of the room.

As soon as the door slid shut, Sakura commanded, "Explain."

Hinata nodded and explained everything. She tried to be light around the parts concerning her fight with Sasuke, but Sakura insisted that she go into detail—she was especially interested in the jutsu she had used. "It's mostly my fault," she said when Sakura looked down at her lap during the part about Hinata injuring herself, "I should have known not to try that jutsu with one hand. And I should have seen his plan beforehand."

Sakura snorted. "You're not Shikamaru, Hinata. No one could have seen that."

The white-eyed kunoichi bit her lip. "I should have."

To that, Sakura smiled kindly. "You're not the Sage of Six Paths, either. You can't do everything."

Hinata simply blushed and continued on with her story. She told her how Itachi was captured and how her arm was infected badly.

The pinkette nodded. "I see. So that's why they brought me here." She blinked. "But…"

"What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Let me just take a look." She crawled closer to Hinata on her knees and gently took the bandaged appendage into her lap with professional care. She undid the bandages and winced at the red marks on the arm. Hinata trained her eyes on the ceiling, not wanting to see what horrors her arm held.

"How bad is it?" the heiress asked, biting her lip.

Sakura sighed. "It's weird…"

Hinata stiffened. "Weird?"

"No, it's fine. I can fix it and all, but…" There was a small pause as Sakura gathered her thoughts. "These burns aren't bad at all. They're they type of burns that—well—I can only compare them to the ones that you would get when you accidently touch a stove. It's not impossible for those to get infected, but the circumstances surrounding something like that would have to be extremely unfortunate. I thought it was weird when you told me, but I'm sure of it now."

Hinata bit her lip, nervousness churning inside her stomach. "What's wrong."

"I'm not sire if this is true or nit, but –from the way you described it to me—Lion's Fist isn't technically fire, right? It's your chakra."

"Yes, why?"

"You see, it's pretty much impossible for you to be injured by your own chakra. Of course, once it's turned into an element like—say fire—it can and will burn you. But your element is water—and it's highly unlikely for you to have two opposite elements—your jutsu was purely of your chakra and it's intended to hit others. Obviously, it has to be touching your skin, right?"

Hinata nodded.

"Well, then, it simply absorbs back into your skin where it's touched. But…" Sakura gently touched a burnt portion of skin, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "These burns… They're mild—yes, very mild—but now that I look at them more closely and feel them"—she slid a chakra-encased hand down the length of Hinata's arm as if to prove her point—"I think these are burns from chakra."

Hinata blinked. "But you just said—you just said my chakra couldn't burn me."

Sakura nodded, pursing her lips. "I know. I know. _Your _chakra can't burn you."

The Hyuuga's eyebrow rose. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You said you were holding Itachi at the time, right?"

"Yes. Why?"

The pinkette hesitated. "It sounds absolutely crazy, but I think you may have absorbed Itachi's chakra." She stared at Hinata for a moment before continuing, "And if you could do that to him, who's to say you couldn't from the rest of them?"

* * *

**I certainly hope this one is longer than the other one . I meant to update sooner but… midterms -_-**

**Hopefully, I didn't get anything about chakra mixed up. I'm certainly not Kishimoto, so I don't know everything. And if something's wrong, well, hell, this is AU enough anyway. I'll just change that 'lil piece about the universe of _Naruto_ and call it a day! I looks really legit, though xD**

**Also, Nerd4ever243, could you tell I was trying not to abuse the comma this time? I tried to pull the hyphen in a little more this time! Hope I didn't use it too much or wrong and make myself look like an idiot… like I'm doing now.**

**-Sigh- Okay, bye!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Uhh…. I have to take this spot to reply to an anonymous review. To a Scott Worley, if you haven't been hit by a bus since your last review (or offed in some other way), I would love to work with you. However, I really wish that you would just PM me on this site. I have nothing against you, but past experiences with giving out my e-mail make me nervous about giving it out. Nothing against you, but I would really rather you just PM me…**

** Also, I was looking at the results of the poll on my page (Which Hinata paring is your favorite) and… How do I have so many GaaHina fans?-! I haven't written a single story for them! I haven't even had Gaara in any of my stories xD Maybe I should write a GaaHina… **

** And, finally, I **_**am**_** aware that there are stories like this one out there. ^^; ****It's **_**okay**_**! I can't possibly be the only one who thought of this ridiculous plot-line xD And I really don't mind people doing things like this even if they are based off of this FanFiction. If you want to, you hereby have my permission to write an Akatsuki Babies FanFiction, okay? Just please tell me because I'd love to read it! (So quit ranting to me about it, you bitches! (I love ya'll :'D))**

** Yes, yes, now then, as you should well know by now, I do **_**not**_** own **_**Naruto**_**!**

** Enjoy~!**

* * *

"Just relax."

Hinata pursed her lips, sucking in another deep breath. It was hard to be _relaxed_ with two people staring down at you so intently.

"I don't think this is working."

"Not _yet_, it's not."

"It doesn't seem to be working at _all._"

The heiress opened her eyes and looked up at the people above her. Nagato's ringed eyes stared down at her, emotionless, but there was something about the set of his mouth that told her he was a little put out with the pink-haired kunoichi. Sakura's face, on the other hand, clearly told exactly what she thought of Nagato. Her lips were curved into a frown, her brows furrowed, and her jade eyes shimmered with distrust every time she looked at the red-haired man.

Hinata sighed, marveling over the fact that she was in such company. "We can always try this again another time…" she suggested timidly, glancing at her hand, which was wrapped around Nagato's wrist.

Sakura rubbed her temples. "I suppose…" She sighed before looking down at Hinata with a kind smile. "I'm sorry. I'm being insensitive. You're still not fully healed."

Nagato shook his head as Hinata removed her fingers from his wrist. He looked down at the Hyuuga for a moment before cracking his knuckles. "How do we even know this theory of yours will work, girl?" he asked, turning his attention to Sakura.

The medic-nin let out a small huff. "We don't. But I highly doubt that Hinata would intentionally burn herself with her own chakra. It would have had to have been someone else's chakra." She crossed her arms. "Normally, I would have said that Sasuke's chakra burned her, but he obviously didn't come into contact with her." She shrugged. "The jutsu she used shouldn't have burned her, but Itachi has fire chakra and her desperation in the situation could have—" Sakura stopped suddenly. "Desperation…" she repeated.

"Desperation?" Nagato asked in a monotone.

Hinata looked up at the pinkette, blinking owlishly.

Sakura's face broke out into a near-maniacal smile. "Of course!" she exclaimed, clapping a hand to her forehead. "What was I _thinking_?-!" She giggled, turning her wild, excited eyes to Hinata. "Desperation!"

Nagato helped Hinata sit up, watching as the heiress stared at Sakura, suddenly worried for the girl's sanity. "What _are_ you talking about?" Nagato deadpanned, keeping a hand on Hinata's back to steady her.

"Her emotions!" Sakura nodded to herself. "Of course. Don't you get it? When someone is angry, sad, or in need of power, their body automatically starts making chakra faster—pulling it from every source it can into whatever jutsu the person is using." She smirked victoriously. "Basically, you emotions are controlling this thing."

There was a snort from across the room. The three turned to see Sasori leaning in the doorway. "So what are you going to do? Push them off a cliff and hope that some point on the way down she sucks the chakra out of him?"

Sakura's cheeks flushed, and she pursed her lips as Sasori made his way toward the group. "No—I—"

Sasori ignored her, brushing by her bristling form and kneeling next to Hinata. "I figured that out a while ago, girl. I'm a bit disappointed. I heard you were a _genius._"

The kunoichi's gaze turned icy. "I don't like you," she hissed, popping her knuckles in a clear threat.

"The feeling's mutual," he growled back.

"Akasuna, Haruno, stop," Nagato ordered. The authority in his voice made both shinobi's tense forms loosen slightly.

"Sorry," Sakura snarled, unclenching her fist.

"What did you find, Sasori?" the leader asked, not even acknowledging Sakura's apology.

"He's on his way here. He's got a sensor."

"Who?" Sakura and Hinata asked simultaneously.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Sasori answered in a monotone, looking only at Hinata. The Hyuuga's lavender orbs snapped to the pinkette. She sucked in a small breath, her eyebrows rising slightly. Her lip quivered slightly—wanting to say something—but she seemed to notice Hinata's gaze on her. Instead, she looked down at the midnight-haired girl and smiled.

"How close is he?" Nagato continued, ignoring the silent communication.

"I'd say," his nose wrinkled only slightly as he thought, "from the way he was moving, about ten—maybe eleven—kilometers."

"Right." Nagato stood, towering over them all. "We need to move. Now. Sasori, collect Hinata's things and bring her downstairs when you're ready."

"Yes, sir," the smaller man replied, and Hinata detected what she thought was a bit of sarcasm in his voice. She couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Hinata found herself thinking more and more about how she was as a gennin lately. She wondered what her younger self would think if she could see herself now. The shorthaired younger version of herself would probably faint at the sight of herself surrounded by the Akatsuki and especially when she realized that the silver-haired child in Hinata's arms was a shrunken-down mass-murderer.

Hidan let out a small grunt and looked up at Hinata, eyebrows furrowed and clearly not happy.

"What's wrong?" she asked gently, smiling slightly at the fact that he had pulled her out of her thoughts.

He didn't answer—not knowing enough of the language to be able—and, instead, reached up and grabbed a lock of Hinata's freely flowing dark hair. He stared at it, completely entranced by the shininess of it. And then proceeded to stick it in him mouth and chew on it.

"Hidan!" Hinata exclaimed in a whisper, grabbing her hair away from him. "That's not good. Don't do that."

He blinked up at her, violet eyes shining. His lip quivered. "BAABAA!" he screamed loudly.

Hinata cringed. "We left BaBa at home, Hi-chan," she consoled him quietly, petting his white locks.

"B-BaBa…" he whimpered, sniffling.

Hinata pursed her lips—the kicked-puppy look in his amethyst orbs was seeping down into the very depths of her soul.

Who knew a pacifier named BaBa could bring so much pain?

"Don't worry!" She smiled. "We'll get you a new BaBa soon. I promise."

He frowned, but his hiccupping sobs stopped. "Otay."

Hinata swore she could feel her heart melting.

* * *

Uzumaki Karin had had some pretty bad days.

Today was the worst.

The kunoichi let out a small mutter under her breath as she rolled over onto her side. Sasuke had started a fire earlier, but it was already giving off less light. Not that the Uchiha would care, seeing as he was asleep.

Karin's ruby orbs stared intensely at the Uchiha's back. His breathing seemed to be regular, but she couldn't be for sure. She slowly made a hand-sign and closed her eyes. She let out a small sigh of relief when she sensed his peaceful chakra. _He's sleeping for sure, _she thought. _Otherwise, his chakra would be that hateful, dark mess it always is._ Her lip curled slightly. _How could I have ever been attracted to such a cold person?_

She stood, keeping her hand-sign in place the whole time to make sure he didn't awaken at any stage of her plan. She smirked to herself. A week ago, she wouldn't have thought herself capable of betraying Sasuke, but she had had enough of being nothing but a tool to the Uchiha.

Earlier that day, just as the sun was setting, Karin had told Sasuke that Hinata's chakra signature was "close, but not close enough," and that they should "rest because they would surely meet her tomorrow, and her companions were sure to put up a fight."

Karin smirked. Truthfully, to any competent ninja a distance of ten kilometers was nothing at all. But there was no need for Sasuke to know that they were but ten kilometers away from their target.

She knelt next to the heavily breathing child and placed her free hand on his forehead. Her eyebrows knit together. He was burning up. _He seems hotter than last night,_ she thought worriedly.

In that past few days, she had come to accept the fact that this child was, indeed, the feared older brother that had wiped out Sasuke's clan. It was odd, yes, but she had seen odder things during her time with Orochimaru.

She maneuvered the small body into her arms, gently supporting his head and stalking away from the campsite with all the stealth she could manage. She avoided all of Sasuke's traps with ease, having been there when he set them.

And then she was in the trees, her legs moving with speed pumped by chakra and adrenaline. She let out a small breath, her heart beating hard in her chest.

She was sure that Konoha would send someone after her—maybe those two ANBU she had been with—and she did not want to be recaptured. There was no telling what they would do to her if they thought she tried to escape. Then, she didn't want to stay with Sasuke, either. She had abandoned her post from the prison when she went with him, and Orochimaru was most likely not to happy with either of them.

And it was never a good idea to piss off Orochimaru.

So where was she to go? She really didn't see any other choice than to go back to the only people capable of protecting her. It was a ridiculous idea that the Hinata girl would want anything to do with her—seeing as she didn't even know that Karin existed. But where else was there? This was the best chance she had. The kunoichi had gotten quite a feel for judging personalities by chakras over the years, and if the Hyuuga's personality was anywhere near as pure and innocent as her chakra, there was a chance.

Also, she was going to bring Itachi back to her.

That had to count for something, right?


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry this is late, guys. I got kidnapped by good bright polka dot pirates. It's short, too, but—uh—I think it's almost over? And it just seemed like the perfect time to end xP**

** I don't own Naruto.**

…

..

.

Sasuke Uchiha did not have a quick temper.

He had always been able to sit quietly and take whatever people could throw at him—knowing that he would get them later and that losing his head would do nothing for him. He knew rage was a bad thing—hatred made you stronger, rage made you blind. He was taught to sit calmly, contain your rage, and think logically.

However, now, he was _pissed._

He was furious with himself, mostly. He was Sasuke _Uchiha_—from the clan famous for putting prisoners away and keeping them there—and _both_ of his prisoners had escaped from right under him.

He ticked angrily, pushing himself off of a branch, snapping it in half as he did so. _Karin, _he growled mentally, eyes narrowing. He had let his guard down. He didn't actually think she would betray him—he thought she was to blindly in "love" with him to actually do anything against him. _Stupid! _His eyes flared red, narrowing even further as he concentrated on her chakra.

Soon she would find out what happened when people crossed Sasuke Uchiha.

…

..

.

Being the heiress in a large family, Hinata had gotten herself into some pretty strange situations.

This had to be the weirdest of them all.

She sighed, running a hand through her wind-blown hair as she looked around the room. Sakura was sitting in the corner, rocking a small, blue-haired child, who was giggling at her tugging at her hair. In every corner of the room, there was an Akatsuki member—Nagato behind her and to her left, Deidara behind her and on her right, Kisame in front of her and beside Sakura on her right, and Sasori in front of her on the right. Sitting next to the only light in the room—a small candle—was a girl who once worked for Orochimaru, her hands tied behind her back.

Hinata looked down at her lap, where a small child was sitting, his wide, black eyes staring at the fire-haired girl in the center of the room. Hinata patted down a stray hair on his head, smiling lightly.

"Oi, oi, you two, break it up!" Deidara's voice grumbled from his corner. Hinata looked over to see him trying to gently break apart tiny Kakuzu and tiny Hidan's fight.

"No!" Hidan protested angrily, reaching to try and smack Kakuzu again.

"Hey!" Deidara growled, pushing the silver-haired child away. "Geez! I think you two are worse a children!"

"Ahem," Nagato looked pointedly at the three boys. "Anyway," he said sternly, turning his attention back to the girl in the center of the room, "as I was saying. You worked for Orochimaru—an enemy of the Akatsuki—and betrayed him for Sasuke Uchiha—another enemy of the Akatsuki. And you want us to trust you?"

She blushed. "Well… when you put it like that…" she mumbled, shifting awkwardly. She bit her lip. "Actually, no. I didn't expect you to trust me, but I did expect you to understand my situation."

Nagato tipped his head, signaling for her to continue when she paused.

She sighed. "I abandoned the Grass for Orochimaru," she said, hanging her head. "So I can't go home—or to any other ninja village. Then, I left Orochimaru for Sasuke. So I can't go back to Orochimaru. And after all of that, I betrayed Sasuke and came to you." She looked up. "So, you see, this is really the only place I have left."

Nagato opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by another voice.

"_What_ a touching speech!"

Everyone whirled to see a man in a swirly, orange mask staring down the trap door they had come through. He gave a small wave, and, though his face was covered by a mask, Hinata could almost tell he was smirking underneath it.

Nagato seemed to recognize him from the way his entire body tightened. "You…" he mumbled under his breath.

Deidara seemed to choke. "T-Tobi?"

"Tobi" let out a girlish giggle that threw Hinata off greatly. "Deidara-sempai! Tobi is so glad to see you again!"

Deidara stared, eyes wide and mouth ajar, as Tobi turned back to Nagato.

"Tobi came back to warn you not to come back to the Rain village. Tobi thinks you should just stay away from being a ninja at all." His voice deepened suddenly. "In fact, it's only because of our _years_ of comradeship that I don't kill you right here and now."

Nagato glared. "I think you should leave."

"Oh, look who's getting bossy." The man leapt down into the darkness. "Listen," he hissed as he walked toward Nagato slowly—confidently, "I came here to warn you. Stay away from the Rain. Stay away from all the bases. Stay away from my plans—hell—stay away from yours. Don't plot. Don't plan. Keep you head low and maybe I won't chop it off." He waved slightly before disappearing.

The mood in the room was best expressed by Hidan—who promptly burst into tears.


End file.
